Epson Joins RPX’s Defensive Patent Service

RPX Corporation announced today in a press release that it has acquired a sixth member for its Defensive Patent Aggregation service.  RPX, which acquires patent rights and provides them as a defensive patent aggregation, has also acquired memberships with IBM, Cisco and other large and small technology companies.

RPX’s service was introduced in November 2008, and their management is already responsible for more than $2 billion in patent transactions.  Companies pay an annual membership fee to RPX in order to reduce patent risks and costs created by non-practicing entities (NPEs).  NPE’s, or patent trolls, acquire patents for the sole purpose of offensive licensing against operating companies.  Also, since NPEs do not make or sell products, they are not subject to counter-claims.

The president of RPX, Eran Zur, said “IT companies like Epson have become very common targets for patent assertion from non-practicing entities and RPX addresses the industry’s need for a strong patent defense offering.  We expect that the RPX service will help Epson avoid substantial future litigation and licensing costs.”