Definitions
Patent trolls – sometimes referred to as Non Practicing Entities (NPEs) or Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs). These are companies that buy patents, but don’t use them other than to license the invention to others and sue in the case of infringement.
Patent thickets / anti-commons – these terms are interchangeable, and they refer to the fact that some sectors of the economy have so many patents that innovation is impossible. For example, the iPhone has 1298 patents, which makes it hard for a new market entrant to develop a competing product. The fragmentation of patents across different types of technology means someone trying invent would have to license dozens or hundreds of patents first.
Evergreening – companies will design follow-up products that are extremely similar to their patented products in an attempt to extend the term of their patent
Patent holdups – this refers to the practice of overcharging for patent licenses. It’s related to thickets because it’s potentially much worse for technology that requires many licenses from many different patent holders. It usually applies to SEP-intensive industries.
SEP – Standard Essential Patents. They govern technology that is essential to standardize products across industries (like USB ports, for example).
FRAND - Fair, Reasonable And Non Discriminatory. It’s a licensing principle applied to SEPs – if a company commits to developing a standard for particular tech, they can also commit to licensing the patent under FRAND