Seemingly out of nowhere, Vermont has become one of the worst enemies for patent assertion entities, a.k.a. patent trolls. Earlier this month, the state’s legislature passed a unique bill that would allow both judges and state prosecutors to penalize "bad faith" conduct in patent assertion, such as failing to name the patent-holder or the patent at issue, or making unreasonable and deceptive demands. The bill, which Governor Peter Shumlin signed on May 22, will take effect on July 1.
Also on May 22, Vermont attorney general William Sorrell announced that he had brought a civil case against MPHJ Technology Investments LLC, a notorious troll. Sorrell alleges that the company violated state consumer protection laws by demanding that small businesses pay $1,000 per employee for infringing a dubious MPHJ patent on the process of scanning documents into an e-maila process that MPHJ’s own lawyer has said is used by "99 percent" of the workforce everyday.
