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Sometimes the problems engulfing the U.S. patent system can seem like a thousand shades of gray where it's hard to sort the good guys from the bad. And then, at other times, the absurdity of the system just smacks you right on the face.

The latter is the case in a bizarre piece of patent litigation involving several companies, including The New York Times, a mobile technology that sends links through text messages, and an obscure inventor who has turned his patent portfolio into a weapon of mass litigation.

First, let's introduce the players in this legal digital drama.

In this corner, we have Richard J. Helferich, an engineer based in Southern California who has been awarded at least 22 patents, according to a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.

Little seems to be known about Helferich. But his list of patents stretch back to 2002, and cover a range of mobile-related technologies that are assigned to a company called Wireless Science based in Chatsworth.

Helferich has also apparently created another company, Helferich Patent Licensing, or HPL, which has filed 23 lawsuits over the past four years against companies such as Best Buy and the National Basketball Association, according to a story by the Washington Post.

The strategy is pretty straightforward. The suits claim the company is violating a patent, but then HPL offers to settle for $750,000. The Post report that about 100 companies took

This also appears to be the strategy being pursued in The New York Times case. Helferich holds a patent for the process of sending a text message containing a link to your mobile phone.

While patent law can be thick, patents are supposed to be awarded for inventions that are "non-obvious." Sending links through a text message would seem to be both obvious and inevitable.

Fortunately, the Times has chosen to fight. It's accepted the legal challenge in court, and it has also appealed the underlying patent to the patent office.

Continued here:
O'Brien: Case demonstrates why "patent" has become a dirty word