By Todd Hixon in Forbes

A wise old VC once told me, “The true sport of kings is patent litigation, not horse racing. It takes 5 years and $5 million to litigate a patent, and the only safe bet to win is on the lawyers.” Entrepreneurs and venture capital investors are raising strong concerns about patent legislation now pending before Congress. Described as a measure to curb patent trolls, the bill (“HR 9″*) dramatically increases the cost and risk of challenging a patent infringer. This will inhibit trolls to some extent. But, the bigger impact will be on small companies.  They will have little chance of defending their IP rights against infringement by a larger, better-financed competitor.