RPX Corporation (Rational Patent EXchange) is an American provider of international risk management services for patents. The company was founded in March 2008,[1] and is based in San Francisco. It was incorporated on July 15, 2008.[2] By acquiring patents that pose potential problems and providing information on litigation, RPX seeks to reduce patent assertions directed at its clients.
RPX provides a defensive patent aggregation service to mitigate clients' risk of litigation from non-practicing entities (NPEs) – also called patent trolls – which acquire patents for the sole purpose of licensing and asserting their patent rights.[3][4]
RPX identifies and purchases patent assets they identify as of high value, relevance and risk that could be used offensively against members of the company's client network. Depending on the situation, RPX may acquire assets from a third party or directly from an NPE.[5]