> The problem being: patent trolls like Lodsys LLC do not actually create anything. There's nothing to countersue over.

They don't sell products, but they surely use computers internally. Which makes them vulnerable to all sorts of patent lawsuits.

Patent law lets you sue both the person making the software (Microsoft etc.) and the person using it, in this case Lodsys.

That's the point of the marked for life bit, if it were legal - and it seems like it probably isn't, IANAL etc.

But if it were, anyone setting up a patent trolling company would be targeted at future companies as well, which is a very concrete disincentive.

Ex patent trolls would basically run the very real risk of being unemployable, and have trouble starting legitimate ventures as well.

If we drop the concerns over legality, what about starting rumors that there's a secret offshore blind trust, contributed to by both deep-pocketed victims of patent trolls and open-source developers. A trust which exists to take the other side of anonymous bets regarding the death or disappearance of patent trolls.

How about getting a patent of the act of filing a lawsuit and suing those asses to oblivion?

IBM has a patent on that ;-)

Why does the countersuit have to be about patent infringement? Just sue them to be a nuisance. I'm sure Apple's lawyers are good enough to be a thorn in Lodsys' side.

A couple of problems with that:

- Filing a frivolous lawsuit makes the plaintiff liable for the defendant's legal expenses.

- Repeatedly filing frivolous lawsuits can get you labeled as a vexatious litigant, and if labeled as such you need a judge's permission to file even a valid lawsuit.

- Lawyers knowingly participating in frivolous lawsuits or vexatious litigation can be disbarred.

For these reasons, I don't think you will see corporations filing a lot of meritless nuisance lawsuits.