Patent trolls are everywhere these days, swaming over the hills of Silicon Valleys on the back of their patent wargs. Everyone is dealing with the frivolous lawsuits patent trolls make a living bringing against any technology company that experiences even a modicum of success, but hey, go figure: ultimately, patent trolls are more interested in suing Apple than anyone else.
According to new data from PatentFreedom, which tracks 710 intellectural property profiteers, Apple is the highest-profile target of patent trolls around, having been sued by 171 patent trolls in the past five years alone: 27 in 2009, 34 in 2010, 42 in 2011, 44 in 2012, and 24 in 2013.
The second highest patent troll target? HP, followed by Samsung, AT&T, Dell, and Sony. Amazingly, Google and Amazon are comparatively far down the list, tied for position number 10.
That’s got to be irritating for Apple. In fact, we know it is, because Tim Cook has blowed his top about patent trolls in the past.
“It’s maddening. It’s a waste. It’s a time suck,” Cook said of patent litigation. “Does it stop innovation? Well, it’s not going to stop us, but it’s overhead. I wish we could settle this stuff.”
Patent trolls hurt the iOS ecosystem too. Remember Lodsys, who started suing App Store developers just for using Apple’s own in-app purchasing mechanism? Patent trolls don’t just go after the big guys like Apple; they crippled the business of small developers too.
Source: All Things D
