March 17, 2022

Enough is enough. Patent trolls who don’t make or produce anything are at it again and giving the Irish a bad name. Arigna Technology Limited, an Irish shell company bankrolled by Chicago-based hedge fund Magnetar, is asking the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban over 93% of the smartphones and numerous tablets and laptops that American consumers depend on every day.

But, Arigna doesn’t really want that.  It wants to exploit the ITC’s ability to ban products from the U.S. market to force major tech companies to hand over a king’s ransom to go away. These patent trolls have discovered that they can “get-rich-quick” by using the threat of exclusion from the market to “hoover up” the profits of the U.S. tech sector, all while providing nothing to the economy.   But the biggest loser in these schemes is the American consumer, who will ultimately foot the bill in the form of higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation.

Fittingly, “Arigna” has its roots in an Irish word that means “plundering.” Arigna and its web of affiliated companies have a history of abuse at the ITC (they’re currently suing the automobile industry in a similar scheme) and it certainly won’t be the last time unless the ITC is reformed.  St. Patrick is renowned for ridding Ireland of serpents; this St. Patrick’s Day, let’s rid the ITC of the patent trolls!

And to learn more about the ITC and why it needs reform here watch our video explainer here.