Secondly, keep an eye on the patent troll's behavior and on the response from your competitors. If you are friendly with your competitors, see what info you can dig up about the patent trolls. See if you observe the trolls speeding up or slowing down. You might find that a "big" settlement wasn't as big as you might have guessed.

Thirdly, don't panic. There are patent trolls in every industry. I was sued by one once -- for a zero-revenue side project -- and it fizzled, but I worried a lot along the way. If they haven't tried to contact you yet, your time is probably better spent developing your business.

You have knowledge of an existing patent and knowledge that you appear to be infringing.

Again, you need a lawyer. Get an IP attorney.

"and knowledge that you appear to be infringing"

This is what I'm trying to wrap my head around. What defines "infringing"? The patent abstract covers some features that we do, but also some that we don't.

How much overlap is required before it's considered infringement?

Whether you are infringing depends on how the patent claims are drafted. That I cannot tell you because I can't give legal advice.

If you want to learn for yourself before going to a patent attorney, pick up a law school textbook and start reading. The law isn't hard. You just need to understand how the courts have interpreted the Patent Act.

I used this one in law school (used copy will be fine): http://www.amazon.com/Intellectual-Property-Trademark-Copyri...

Get the supplement, too (supplement gives you the recent updates to the law): http://www.amazon.com/Intellectual-Property-Materials-Supple...

They are in Portland, they are IP experts.

Your best bet is to ask around at the Chamber of Commerce or other business meetups near you.

In [Dean, of Segway fame] Kamen's opening statement he noted that some people might call him a "Patent Troll" since he now limits his activities to developing product ideas with the sole purpose of licensing them, but doesn't try to manufacture or market them. He believes that large companies are much better suited to manufacture and market products than to develop new products. He is better suited for developing these new products than manufacturing or marketing them.

He made a very strong point that the larger companies had most of the resources in his business dealings and didn't really need patent protection. On the other hand, his patent for his intellectual property was the only thing that he had on his side of the table. He concluded his opening remarks by saying, “ . . .the patent system was intended to help everybody to be able to participate in innovation."

Maybe I'm incorrect, but in the web 1.0 days, it seems patents were approved which are overly-broad ...

when you're simply conducting industry-specific business over the internet using standard technology and media, how does that pass the non-obvious test?

But if you want to take a proactive approach, you can try contacting them, and asking them to let you license the stuff. It'll probably cost you some money, but probably not as much as you think.

Sorry about the exclamation marks but this is a really dangerous suggestion.

You don't want to approach them blind without knowing what kind of licensing agreements they've draw out for others. You don't want to be extorted.

Its best you start out getting a lawyer.