Frivolity ensues

Another day, another article decrying the evil wreaked on our economy by patent trolls non-practicing entities patent assertion entities.  This time, it's by Hector Barreto of the Latino Coalition and former head of the Small Business Administration under the Bush Administration.

Mr. Barreto trots out pretty much all of the arguments we've heard before.  There's one in there in particular that's starting to drive me crazy.

Mr. Barreto argues in favor of the fee-shifting provisions that are in the bills currently working their way through Congress.  He writes:  "A fee shifting or a 'loser pays' system, requiring the plaintiff to cover all legal fees of the defendant if the claim is ruled frivolous or extortive, would also create a disincentive for trolls knowing they will accrue serious losses if they're trying to assert frivolous allegations of infringement."

Here's the thing, Mr. Barreto. Judges already have the power to award fees and costs to a defendant where the court decides that the lawsuit is based on "frivolous or extortive" claims.  We don't need an automatic fee-shifting law to take care of that.  There may be other reasons to have automatic fee-shifting.  Some of them may even be good reasons.  But the need to protect defendants from "frivolous or extortive" claims is not one of them.