That grave analysis comes from two Boston University law school professors, according to the publication Corporate Counsel.

Indirect costs

The report says the academics -- James Bessen and Michael Meurer – were surprised at the high price tag inflicted by patent trolls, with the magazine pointing out that the researchers said the $29 billion figure does not take account of indirect costs to business, ‘such as diversion of resources, delays in new products, and loss of market share’.
According to the researchers – who are co-authors of a 2008 book looking at the legal system’s ‘failure’ to protect business innovators -- non-practising entities own patents that they don’t use to produce goods or services, and then sue companies that do produce those goods and services.
The Corporate Counsel report also points to the escalating levels of troll-triggered litigation -- last year businesses of all sizes were forced to defend more than 5,800 claims by non-practising entities, compared to defending some 4,445 claims the previous year, and only about 1,400 in 2005.