For the most part, the U.S. court system has tended to reject a loser pay system. As a general rule, each side is responsible for covering the cost of their legal representation, regardless of who wins. There are of course exceptions to this general rule, normally set forth in statutes that require a defendant in certain circumstances to pay the legal fees of the plaintiff should the plaintiff prevail.
But the problem of "patent trolls" is making the federal courts and Congress rethink their aversion to a pure loser pay system. Bloomberg News has more on this developing story.
