This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　Spectator mode is undoubtedly one of the most important tools in esports. Without the use of the in-game spectating mode things like broadcasting esports as well as viewing replays in-game would be impossible. So it's not all too odd that the internet went up in arms initially after reddit user Esports-Patent-Atty started a thread on the League of Legend's subreddit detailing the company's filing for the patent on said technology.

　　Yesterday however, CEO of Riot Games Brandon Beck, and the company's president Marc Merrill released a short statement on why they requested the patent in the first place.

　　Guys, we’ve been getting some questions about patents we filed a couple years ago. We have no interest in using any patents offensively. The US patent system is broken and needs reform. Many gaming companies -- including us -- are getting attacked by patent trolls. Our default’s to collaborate. For instance, we’ve given everyone written permission to put our IP to a wide variety of uses.

　　We won’t get in the way of anyone else building awesome spectator features, but we do want to make sure League of Legends players can always spectate freely. If you’re interested in having congress address patent reform, check out https://defendinnovation.org.

　　- Brandon Beck, Marc Merrill

　　The idea of a so-called "patent troll" is that people simply purchase patents and then sell them back to the developers, or take them to court for, in this example, utilizing a feature that said troll claims is similar to a piece of software he has patented. As can be read above, Merrill and Beck took the opportunity to turn the situation on its head, and rather addresses the bigger issue in the picture, which is the US Patent Office.

　　Image Credit: riotgames.com, gameinformer.com