Re:Something has to be done (Score 1)

"...but what is to keep the holding company that keeps the patents in "trust" from getting gobbled up by one of the big fish? I mean, big fish could abuse legal process to bankrupt holding company, then buy the holding company off the auction block. This kind of thing has happened before...."

If you make the 'holding company' a non-profit corporation committed to educational purposes, assuming that the holding company can so qualify, state laws generally prohibit the assets of the chairity (i.e., holding company) from being gobbled up and exploited by a for-profit corporation (your Big Fish Corp.).

In the alternative, the holding company could assign any patent it desired to enforce. It would assign it to 'New Corp.,' which would be set up solely for the purpose of owning and exploiting the particular patent. (New Corp. would be a for-profit corporation or LLC [= GmbH].) If New Corp. tanked, your Big Fish Corp. would be able to gobble up only the assets of New Corp., not those of the holding company. The assets of the holding company would be insulated, assuming that all of the proper corporation law formalities were observed.

So, I don't think that the problem concerning you is likely to happen, if proper steps are taken to avoid it.