Known as Patent Assertion Entities, or PAEs, these firms have been singled out by the technology industry for their role in the escalating number of lawsuits that, the industry argues, are hurting innovation.
An escalating series of lawsuits, government rulings, banking decisions and breakthrough health studies has brought the fate of devastating mountaintop removal mining in central Appalachia to the doorstep of state and federal decision makers this week.
The availability of a tamper-proof record often sorts out disputes before they escalate, expensively, into lawsuits.
Energizer Holdings said it filed on Friday a patent infringement lawsuit against Gillette, escalating a bitter legal war between the two largest makers of wet razors and blades.
The conflict -- dating from 1887 -- escalated into a lawsuit that the Indians filed against the Department of the Interior in June 1996.
The lawsuit escalates a struggle with authors and agents over how to compensate writers for digital sales of their books and at the same time seeks to squelch a scramble among established publishers and their upstart rivals bidding for the electronic rights to popular printed books.
The lawsuit escalates what has been a long-simmering feud between law enforcement and the company. .
To protect endangered fish species, those southbound water shipments have been subject to escalating restrictions, triggering an endless cycle of lawsuits and proposals to stem the delta's decline.
OVER the years, the fight against online piracy has led to countless lawsuits by media companies and to escalating levels of law enforcement, all with mixed results.
The cost of long-term care for the elderly continues to escalate, fueled significantly by lawsuits: between 1992 and 2003, the litigation costs per bed at such facilities swelled by 700 percent.
