Unless you are in the business of inventions you might not recognize the term patent troll. Patent trolls refer to a person or company that enforces patents against infringers. We have seen these patent trolls at work on the internet in the last few years. The first thing the people or company took control over was Napster for infringement on music licenses. In the case of Napster it was also copyright infringement. Typically patent trolls go after patents that are misused regarding inventions by a company. Patent trolls appeared in our vocabulary in 1993.
Since the 90’s the term patent trolls has evolved. Patent trolls are able to buy patents cheaply in order to enforce them. They are in a position to negotiate licensing fees as well.