John Oliver tackles patent trolls, tries to get you fired-up about patent reform

John Oliver explains why you should care about patent trolls

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

published 20 April 2015

Patents are "basically legally binding dibs," John Oliver explained at the beginning of the main story on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. If that sounds boring, it's John Oliver's job to show you the interesting side of something like patent law and explain why you should care. Businesses do — they have paid "patent trolls" an estimated half a trillion dollars since 1990, in what boils down to a game of intellectual-property extortion.

The problem, Oliver explained, is that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is supposed to issue patents for inventions that are "new, useful, and non-obvious" — "all the adjectives that Tom Cruise would say he's seeking in an ideal mate," he added, gratuitously — but in eras of big technological innovation "they can get overwhelmed and certify patents that they shouldn't." And since it is so expensive to go to court, 90 percent of trollish patent suits are settled out of court.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.