Trolls

The first time I ever read the word ‘trolls’ was courtesy of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The second time was with respect to lawyers, patent trolls, chasing operating companies that were infringing certain patent rights.

To this day I don’t get the connection.

Tolkien’s trolls were big lumbering dim witted bullies. Whereas patent trolls are small, nimble carnivores.

A better term for patent trolls would have been ‘patent pirates’.

Or better still ‘patent corsairs’ since they break no laws as such  corsairs were government-mandated pirates.

The use of the pejorative ‘trolls’ for non practising patent entities is pretty silly really. It just reflects a sense of injured entitlement by those who have for centuries profited nicely from the patent system without being called.

In the fact the big lumbering bullies in this story, the true trolls, are the large corporations that have for a long time being clubbing inventors, small competitors and anyone outside the first world. And also throwing rocks at each other in a zero sum game.

If you throw a rock in the pond then you can expect some ripples to come back. I just received a missive that the reference to trolls is from the old Scandinavian folk story, three billy goats gruff, which I managed to skip as a child.

This reference, if true, is even more retarded than the Tolkien reference. In the story the troll skips eating the smaller goats and then gets beaten up and killed by the largest goat, representing the biggest corporation. Firstly, patent trolls will nibble at all the goats and, secondly, if the big corporation can kill the troll then why all the angst about patent trolls then?

And who, in their right mind, would call themselves a fat goat?

Rats miss!