Unbelievable:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/12/microsoft-patents-a-slider-earning-effs-stupid-patent-of-the-month-award/

Well, LibreOffice (which is really just OpenOffice) has that exact patented thingie in the bottom right corner. It predates the patent by 7 years.

So... kudos to the EFF for ridiculing an obvious patent and at the same time not seeing the obvious.

Am I right that all those patent trolls only exist, as in Texas the loser doesn't need to pay all fees from both parties?

That's right as far as I know, but...

Well I guess that's why we don't see such in the EU.

No. The reason we don't see them is Poland. The fees would not nearly be high enough to discourage a patent troll. You only need to win one case, and you have enough money to go to court another 20 times, even if you lose.

E-Patents were decided and were to be ratified by the member states when Poland joined the EU. First thing they said was: "The fuck, what? You guys crazy or what? No way!".

Thank you, Poland.

Well I guess that's why we don't see such in the EU.

No, you don't see this in the EU as the EU has stated time and time again that software patents are invalid within the union. This does depend a bit on whether you consider the patent against software or not and this is technicality.

To quote Wikipedia:

Under the EPC, and in particular its Article 52,[1] "programs for computers" are not regarded as inventions for the purpose of granting European patents,[2] but this exclusion from patentability only applies to the extent to which a European patent..

And goes on and on:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/jury-apple-must-pay-626-million-to-patent-troll-virnetx/

yeah, hopefully the US finds a way to close down the loopholes that allow such companys to even exist.

Making over 600m $ with a small company of 15 people, not even really intending to develop a product, and just extorting money with patents you got from another company (for cheap I guess?) for a 5 year justice marathon sounds like a pretty sound "business plan"... if it works out. Getting their way with royalities would most probably make everyone in the company a billionaire without having to do much other than preparing their cases for court.

I guess the patent troll company is composed of lawyers and business sharks?

How is this kind of patent law beneficial to the economy or anyone besides some "criminals" working in a shady grey area that is still seen as legal today?

Making over 600m $ with a small company of 15 people, not even really intending to develop a product, and just extorting money with patents you got from another company (for cheap I guess?)

Remember, Al Capone didn't go to jail for extorting money from people, either. Nor for killing people. He went to jail after the supreme court ruled that illegal revenues are certainly subject to income tax, and Capone had failed to pay these. Note the cynical wording of "illegal revenues". It didn't matter that they were illegal, all that mattered was that he didn't pay the income tax.

On the other hand, it's perfectly acceptable to extort someone as long as you are a good citizen and pay your taxes.