If "patent trolls" are formed as shell companies (located in the eastern district of texas) that have no assets other than the patent and enough to sue (i.e. corporation whose shareholders form it by merely contributing the patent and a nominal amount of funds), then this bill is useless unless it also permits piercing of the corporate veil (or equivalent for other limited liability entities such as LLC) such that the shareholders or directors are also liable for the attorney's fees of the defendant. Otherwise, why would a patent troll place assets other than enough to litigate in their shell companies?
That was my thought - i couldn't see why this would make things better (you don't remove trolls, but people who we don't want to consider trolls would now run the risk of simply being outspent and then bankrupted -> which could "hilariously" result in them selling the IP to an actual troll...).
I think the fix would be to stop allowing overly broad patents (eg. actually say how what you're doing what you're claiming, instead of saying "i have an idea" and not saying how to do it)
