• InformationWeek brings us the story of Ashford.com’s Emob’s fight against Cronos Technologies, a well-known NPE, over a patent related to a “remote ordering system.”  (InformationWeek)
  • Google’s Senior Vice President & General Counsel Kent Walker wrote an opinion piece for Politico, making the case for the Obama administration’s second term to include additional patent reform that specifically addresses patent assertions by NPEs. (Politico)
  • Professor Colleen Chien of Santa Clara University Law School, who has written extensively on patent assertions by NPEs (particularly against startup companies), was recently awarded a research grant from the New America Foundation to expand her research on the topic.  The grant will fund an expanded survey to determine the effects NPEs are having on startups. (via SCU Law)
  • In light of several recent patent infringement suits filed by noted NPE Personal Audio LLC based on podcasting activities, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced that it is reaching out to help the defendants defend against these claims. (via ArsTechnica)
  • Counterpoint: Paul Schneck, chairman of Rembrandt IP Management — an NPE that recently sued Facebook for patent infringement in the Eastern District of Virginia — makes the case in Forbes that patent assertions by NPEs are not the problem that many claim them to be. (Forbes)