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A comment on Ask HN: I was hit with a patent troll lawsuit, how do I deal with it?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: I was hit with a patent troll lawsuit, how do I d... by pnw on Monday June 21, 2021 @02:25PM (#27582111)
In my most recent case, we settled the patent lawsuit for approximately 10% of the estimated cost to litigate, which was well into six figures.

If we had chosen to litigate, it would have taken years, been very stressful and possibly created issues with future company financings etc.

And even if we had won - the NPE has zero assets to attach so you always bear the legal cost.

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Re:Ask HN: I was hit with a patent troll lawsuit, how do I d... by ThrustVectoring on Monday June 21, 2021 @05:17PM (#27584627)
> the NPE has zero assets to attach so you always bear the legal cost.

I've vaguely heard of this so it might not be directly relevant, but I've heard of "performance bonds" or the like being mandated for litigants. Basically the idea is that the litigant has to put up a sum of money to continue the lawsuit so that they don't get the free optionality of collect-if-win / have-no-assets-if-lose scenario.

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