Even amid the ongoing backlash against patent trolls, FindTheBest.com’s response to infringement claims by accused troll Lumen View Technology stands out from the crowd. Last year FindTheBest CEO Kevin O’Connor called patent trolls the “scum of the earth” and vowed to “slaughter” Lumen View in court, declaring, “This is war.”
O’Connor chose as his weapon the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, accusing Lumen View in a May 2013 lawsuit of trying to wheedle settlements from FindTheBest and other companies through threats and frivolous patent litigation. But FindTheBest’s RICO suit fell flat on Monday, when U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan found insufficient evidence that Lumen View’s actions amounted to wire fraud, mail fraud or extortion.
