Companies call for EU crackdown on patent predators

‘Balanced and effective’ intellectual property protection needed, say companies including Google and Microsoft

Companies operating in Europe are increasingly being targeted by ‘patent trolls’—companies that buy patents solely to bring legal action against alleged infringers—according to a pro-innovation lobby group.

IP2Innovate, a group that says it wants to curb “abusive litigation tactics” around patents that “undermine rather than support innovation”, said in a statement published this week that Europe’s legal responses to patent infringement must be more proportionate.