Patent troll Rebrandt Inc. wants your DTV dollars

A recent trend that has become a national embarrassment is the formation of companies whose sole purpose is to collect outdated patents and try to apply them to new technology and sue the makers and users of that technology. It’s called a legalized protection racket. They produce nothing, clog the courts, raise the cost of goods and services while stifling innovation. Latest in the headlines is a group that calls themselves “Rembrandt”.

Rembrandt Inc. owns a patent on technology that it says is part of the digital television broadcasting standard used by the TV networks. Rembrandt is suing 14 companies, including Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal, CBS Corp. and News Corp.’s Fox Broadcasting for patent infringement and wants millions of dollars in royalties.

The American Antitrust Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group, asked federal regulators last month to bar Rembrandt from enforcing its patent. Otherwise, Rembrandt’s suits could add “tens of millions” of dollars to the cost of digital TV, most of which will likely be passed on to consumers, the nonprofit said.

“This is a massive tax that Rembrandt is trying to place on the transition to digital TV,” said David Balto, an antitrust attorney who co-wrote a petition the AAI submitted March 26 to the Federal Trade Commission.

The AAI argues that Rembrandt is violating antitrust and fair competition laws by abusing the monopoly provided by its patent.

In recent years, the FTC has required companies to license their patents and set maximum royalties in several cases that involve technology standards.

Industry groups set technical standards in areas such as computer networking and memory chip technologies. The standards let different companies make compatible products. (Yahoo News)

Unfortunately a significant percentage of our elected reps in DC are lawyers, including 2 of 3 running for president.The patent act needs revision, and the patent office needs a housecleaning. It will take more them this one small voice to get their attention.