UK trade association TIGA is surveying game developers on the subject of patents, in the hopes of establishing how the threat of litigation affects British studios.

The survey aims to establish how many companies have been affected by patent trolls, or faced legal threats over patent use.

TIGA also hopes to find out how many studios have acquired defensive patents in an effort to protect themselves from litigation.

Don't feed the troll

As well as numbers, the survey will also measure the attitudes of the UK games industry.

The questionnaire asks, for instance, whether developers feel that patent law can stifle innovation, and whether studios would support a system whereby software patents were shorter and more flexible.

"Patents can help to promote innovation and encourage investment, but recent years have seen some worrying developments:patent trolls; the acquisition of patents for defensive purposes to pre-empt the risk of litigation; and large sums being paid out for infringements of patents, which diverts money away from investment in R&D," explained TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson.

"I hope as many games businesses as possible will take part in this survey and so enable TIGA to represent the views of the industry effectively to policy makers."

Interested developers can find the survey here, and it's worth noting that any UK studio can participate in the polling, regardless of their TIGA membership status.