> "The tech giants are exploiting a US trademark-law provision that lets them effectively claim a trademark in secret."

Jamaica and some other countries don't maintain searchable databases, allowing companies to register trademarks abroad in secret and then point to those registrations when claiming the mark in the US.

Source: https://qz.com/808846/why-jamaica-knows-about-apples-new-pro...

Patents != trademarks

The actual point still stands though (though it is in response to something that doesn't even stand on it's own, but hey). Replace "patents" with "trademarks", which is not necessary for the structural integrity of the argument either way -- and follow the HN guidelines about the strongest interpretation of a comment.

Here's a few techniques:

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/multinationals-t...

https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2010/02/19/submarine-patents-aliv...