David L. Schwartz (Illinois Institute of Technology – Chicago-Kent College of Law) has posted On Mass Patent Aggregators (Columbia Law Review Sidebar, Vol. 114, page 51 (2014)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This Essay responds to and extends upon Mark A. Lemley & A. Douglas Melamed's article, Missing the Forest for the Trolls, 113 Colum. L. Rev. 2117 (2013). Lemley & Melamed's article provides a refreshingly balanced and nuanced view of the litigation system. Their article defends, at least partially, mass patent aggregators. However, mass patent aggregators are much more complicated than Lemley & Melamed's article describes. This Essay explains many of the complexities that surround the acquisition and enforcement of patents by mass patent aggregators. Some of these complexities cut in favor of Lemley & Melamed's conclusions, but others do not.