Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Technology and Innovation
Startups And Investors And Trolls, Oh My!: How Commercialization Patents Can Benefit Startup Innovation, Robert Chou
Startups And Investors And Trolls, Oh My!: How Commercialization Patents Can Benefit Startup Innovation, Robert Chou
Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property
Venture-backed startups play a crucial role in innovation and advancing our technology. However, the development of secondary markets for patents and the proliferation of patent assertion entities starting in the early twenty-first century has made the patent ecosystem a difficult environment for startups to navigate. Startups face challenges that their more established counterparts do not. First, startups must rely heavily on external sources of funding and, as a result, many decide to file for patents early in their lifecycle to signal their value to potential investors. Second, patent assertion entities threaten startups with patent infringement suits at a disproportionately high …