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Karl Fazio

is Chief Patent Counsel for Pearson, and is responsible for advising Pearson’s global business, technology, and product leadership regarding strategy, policy, protection, enforcement, and process relating to patents, trade secrets, open source compliance, and standards-setting activity. He manages Pearson’s international patent portfolio to ensure effective protection and alignment with business strategy, develops and implements effective open source and trade secret practices, and provides guidance regarding defensive litigation, enforcement, M&A, and licensing matters

Recent Articles by Karl Fazio

Clearing the Underbrush: How to Fight Low Quality Patents Related to Commoditized Technology that Threaten Innovation

IP departments are often forced to spend their limited budget defending patent troll lawsuits targeted at the base computing and service layers instead of where it should be spent – protecting application layer innovation. There has been no shortage of such litigation due to the glut of vague and ambiguous software patents directed to basic computing technologies. These broad, vague patents have become glaring targets for trolls, who are eagerly buying them up and asserting them wherever they can. As a result, companies are being sued for patent infringement for things that aren’t directly related to their end products and services.