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C. Difficulty #3: Diminution of the Value of Patents.There is a reason that property can be freely bought and sold in a capitalist society: freemovement of goods and services increases wealth for everyone. Therefore, making itdifficult to transfer property is a substantial problem.The proposed SHIELD Act above, however, which is typical of anti-troll legislation, doesexactly that. Making it difficult for a patent owner to enforce a patent (through onerous feeshiftingprovisions) makes the patent less valuable because it is more expensive to enforcethan a patent which is easier to transfer. For example, a start-up company’s most valuableasset is often its patents. If those patents have been purchased from a third-party and thestart-up has not manufactured its product yet, then that company will be undervalued whenit costs more to enforce those patents.Furthermore, if the start-up goes bankrupt, as many do, before manufacturing its product, itwill be harder to reap value from those patents for the investors or creditors. In short,commerce will be clogged in this important sector of the economy, the lifeblood of which isintellectual property.D. Difficulty #4: Problematic Legislation Creates MoreLitigation.It is naïve to believe that legislation can provide a magic bullet against constitutionallyprotected property and at the same time spare the legitimate patent owners that give theU.S. a strong technological comparative advantage. Litigation will still occur, and it will bemore expensive because the interpretation of problematic statutes will be part of it.10951932.2 19

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