I think what really happened is that the Eastern Texas court district used this case to show legitimacy. They'll still eagerly allow less ridiculous but still ridiculous lawsuits from NPE plaintiffs. I see Eastern Texas a bit like Somalia. I imagine patent trolls cause $millions annually to drop into the area. Patent trolling is effectively an industry there, upon which many jobs and pensions depend.
Thank God, we can finally implement cryptography without worrying about being sued! Well probably not. Or something. All software is math anyway, but I doubt that courts will care about that detail.
It occurs to me that what is needed is a possibly grass roots level approach to the patent problem. If ever there was a good use of the Rico Act this would be the one. And know I'm not a lawyer but how is PT (patent trolling) any different from the mob activities that Rico was designed to help eliminate. This would among other things allow asset forfeiture before the fact---something that would be particularly satisfying in this instance :) Just sayin/daydreamin ...
The RICO act pertains to threats of illegal force. Filing a lawsuit to vindicate legal rights is not illegal force, by definition. Filing a totally frivolous lawsuit can get an attorney and his client sanctioned, but while something like this may seem frivolous to you it's not legally frivolous (they have a validly-issued patent that has arguably been infringed).
Diverting resources to fend off million dollar lawsuits certainly could kill people. It's not only interfering with defendants, but the court system must also redirect resources away from other activities to handle these cases.
If nothing else, hundreds of thousands of hours of effort go into cases like these. Patent reform wouldn't necessarily save a single life, but it would clearly save hundreds of hours of life for thousands of people.
