M·CAM | Patently Obvious: The Graverobbers of Theranos say they are “NOT” exploiting the Covid-19 Pandemic
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Patently Obvious: The Graverobbers of Theranos say they are “NOT” exploiting the Covid-19 Pandemic

For the last few weeks, we’ve been following an interesting story of opportunism, greed, and corruption. On March 6, 2020, The Corporation Trust Company registered a new Delaware LLC named “Labrador Diagnostics.” On March 9, 2020, this same Labrador, owned by investment funds managed by Fortress Investment Group LLC, filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the District of Delaware to “protect its intellectual property.” Two days later, the defendant announced that they were developing test kits for Covid-19. Fortress Investment was terrified of the PR ramifications of being seen as exploiting the pandemic, and rightly so. Within a week, they were under fire.

While this seems like a generous, philanthropic act, and more gutless observers may be tempted to drop the scrutiny, we see things differently. A patent troll (tragically the path Fortress took when IP financing for constructive business proved too hard) is still a patent troll, regardless of whether they are spinning free licenses to their worthless patents off as virtuous acts or not.



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