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Trials & Litigation

Big-bucks defendant responds to 'patent troll' claim with civil RICO suit

So-called patent trolls have made money from dubious infringement claims by threatening costly litigation.

But a big-bucks defendant has responded to such a “patent troll” case by pledging $1 million of his personal fortune to file a civil racketeering suit, the Washington Post’s Switch blog reports.

Kevin O’Connor, who co-founded the DoubleClick advertising company sold to Google for $3.1 billion, was infuriated when his new start-up, FindTheBest.com, was threatened with a patent infringement case by Lumen View Technology, according to the article. So he agreed to pay $1 million of his own money—a lot more than the cost of settling— to pursue a civil suit alleging a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

It was filed Monday.

The newspaper did not receive an immediate response to its requests for comment from the defendant or an attorney for plaintiff Lumen View Technology.

The Law & Disorder blog of Ars Technica also has a story.