Evidence of Learning #1

Date: 1/27/17
Subject: Patent Law
Analysis:
I walked into the building in downtown Dallas with two preconceived notions. I was sure
I knew what my final project was and I was sure Mr. Vinnakota, the man I was meeting, would
agree to be my mentor. Confident in my assumptions I strolled into the building. I was correct in
one assumption, Mr. Vinnakota gladly agreed to be my mentor, but I was completely wrong
about my final project.
My initial idea for a final project had been to create a documentary of around thirty
minutes that described the issue of patent trolls in the United States and also interspersed the
court process throughout the video. I believed at the time that a patent troll was a company or
individual that had amassed a large amount of patents over various items and was now utilizing
them to sue other companies or individuals who had created similar products or products that had
implemented a similar concept. I was sure that these companies were despicable organizations
that preyed on the poor American inventor. Mr. Vinnakota was glad I had come with this
preconception of patent trolls, for it was completely wrong.
Mr. Vinnakota explained to me how patent trolls in reality are a gray area, not the black
and white issue I had talked of. In reality the patent troll is whatever someone wants it to be. The
definition of a patent troll can vastly change depending on who is asked. For example, say a
startup company is suing Google for using a concept similar to one of their products. If you ask
the startup company, Google may be considered a patent troll. After all, they are using one of the
companys products and trying to pass it off as their own, possibly applying for a patent on their
new product. However, Google would claim that the startup itself is the patent troll. It uses a
somewhat similar patent to take up a civil lawsuit against Google to gain money. Another
example can be seen in companies like General Electric, who sue hundreds of startups claiming
it infringes one of G.E.s thousands of patents. To G.E. these companies are infringing upon a
legitimate patent. To the startup G.E. is a patent troll using its patents to squeeze whatever money
it can out of the startup. One can see similar examples all throughout the country and the world.
The issue of patent trolling between startups and large corporations is both messy and extremely
complicated. There is truly no definitive answer to what a patent troll is.
This information was definitely shocking at first. Why did I have such a specific idea of
what patent trolls were? Mr. Vinnakota informed me that the reason for my false preconception is
due to mass media. The media has become a convenient place to promote ones propaganda over
the issue. Mr. Vinnakota informed me that often who is portrayed as a patent troll in a case
depends on who has a stronger propaganda machine. If a litigant has a stronger tie to the media
they will most likely be portrayed as the victim of the dastardly patent troll. In this way,
corporations have been able to manipulate the medias definition of patent trolls to fit their
preferences.
After hearing about the multiple ways a patent troll can be interpreted and its larger
impact on the American entrepreneur, I realized this issue was much more severe than I had
initially thought. With Mr. Vinnakotas help I hope to modify my video idea to instead address
the larger issue of ignorance over what a patent troll is. I want to make this video to clear up
misconceptions the media has created about patent trolls and help inform the public about these
inconsistencies. To do this we have decided to begin interviewing representatives of both startups
and corporations over the following weeks.