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Computerworld - Major technology vendors are financing the activities of so-called patent trolls, according to experts, court documents and patent and other legal filings, a Computerworld investigation has found.

Patent "trolls" -- more politely called mass patent aggregators, nonpracticing entities or, as the Federal Trade Commission defines them, patent assertion entities (PAEs) -- litigate more than they innovate. These companies derive the bulk of their income, if not all of it, from licensing the huge libraries of patents they hold and from the money they make by suing companies that use their patents without permission.

Companies including Apple and Micron have historically spoken out against patent trolls, only to wind up doing business with...