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The Eastern District of Texas is particularly notorious for being very favorable to plaintiffs in patent lawsuits (it's even specifically called out in the Wiki

by akeefer 17y ago

The Eastern District of Texas is particularly notorious for being very favorable to plaintiffs in patent lawsuits (it's even specifically called out in the Wikipedia article on patent trolls), so it's notable that this happened in Texas both because a disproportionately large number of such cases happen there and because Microsoft had previously lost a patent suit in this exact same courtroom. Perhaps Texas gets unfairly attacked in other areas, but when it comes to patent lawsuits there really is a pretty serious problem there.

tzs 17y ago
EDT is not particularly favorable to plaintiffs. Defendants, especially in the last couple of years, have been doing quite well. The main reason plaintiffs choose EDT is that its a "rocket docket". A rocket docket is a district where civil trials are speedy. There are a couple reasons for EDT currently being a patent rocket docket. First, it has handled many patent cases, so it has judges who know how to handle patent cases. That came about because one particular judge, I believe Judge Ward, worked on a big patent case just before becoming a judge. He enjoyed the intellectual challenge (patent cases are among the most complicated), and so after becoming a judge, he jumped on any patent cases that showed up in his district, which in turn started attracting patent cases. Some of those would get assigned to the other judges, and so they developed expertise at handling patent cases. Hello, feedback loop. Second, EDT doesn't have much crime. Criminal cases have higher priority than civil cases (because of the right to a speedy trial in criminal cases). In districts where there is a lot of crime, the courts are so backlogged with criminal cases (thanks, stupid "War on Drugs") that a civil case can take years to even get to preliminary hearings. Whether you are a plaintiff or a defendant in a patent case, one thing you want is for it to be over as fast as possible. I've been involved in such a case, and even though I loath traveling, given the choice between going 2000 miles to Texas and having the thing over in a year, versus having it in the local district, and having it take five years, I'd pick Texas. From a programmer's point of view, here's what its like when your employer is involved in a patent suit (on either side). First, you have to be careful in all recorded communications, because those are subject to discovery requests--so if you want to talk to another programmer about something even remotely related to the patented technology, you need to go actually talk in person, or over the phone--no email. Second, there are discovery requests. You'll be required to produce everything relevant you have, and the lawyers expect you to be thorough. You have no idea how many places old code can hide until you've had to respond to a discovery request. (And its not just code--they want all documents relevant to the patented technology). As your lawyers prepare their case, they will have questions. You'll get calls at 9 PM (in the timezone of the court that the suit is filed in, not your time zone) asking questions about source code. The lawyers need the answer to file a motion that is due in three hours. The code is 10 year old code that you haven't looked at in 9 years, and you weren't even the main developer. But you'd better be able to answer the question, 'cause a lot of money is riding on it. Oh, and there are depositions. That's where the other side gets to have a couple days to ask you questions about that 10 year old source code, and also ask you about all kinds of emails and other things they received in discovery. Try this, check all your email for a week about your current projects, and ask yourself "is there any way a hostile lawyer could use this email to make me look bad?". For most, the answer is "yes". Some joking reference to a competitor that was funny at the time, say, is not at all funny when you are sitting in a room full of lawyers, being video taped as they ask you questions about it. This is all very disruptive. It's barely tolerable for a year. Five years...ugh!

by akeefer 17y ago

tzs 17y ago

EDT is not particularly favorable to plaintiffs. Defendants, especially in the last couple of years, have been doing quite well. The main reason plaintiffs choose EDT is that its a "rocket docket". A rocket docket is a district where civil trials are speedy. There are a couple reasons for EDT currently being a patent rocket docket. First, it has handled many patent cases, so it has judges who know how to handle patent cases. That came about because one particular judge, I believe Judge Ward, worked on a big patent case just before becoming a judge. He enjoyed the intellectual challenge (patent cases are among the most complicated), and so after becoming a judge, he jumped on any patent cases that showed up in his district, which in turn started attracting patent cases. Some of those would get assigned to the other judges, and so they developed expertise at handling patent cases. Hello, feedback loop. Second, EDT doesn't have much crime. Criminal cases have higher priority than civil cases (because of the right to a speedy trial in criminal cases). In districts where there is a lot of crime, the courts are so backlogged with criminal cases (thanks, stupid "War on Drugs") that a civil case can take years to even get to preliminary hearings. Whether you are a plaintiff or a defendant in a patent case, one thing you want is for it to be over as fast as possible. I've been involved in such a case, and even though I loath traveling, given the choice between going 2000 miles to Texas and having the thing over in a year, versus having it in the local district, and having it take five years, I'd pick Texas. From a programmer's point of view, here's what its like when your employer is involved in a patent suit (on either side). First, you have to be careful in all recorded communications, because those are subject to discovery requests--so if you want to talk to another programmer about something even remotely related to the patented technology, you need to go actually talk in person, or over the phone--no email. Second, there are discovery requests. You'll be required to produce everything relevant you have, and the lawyers expect you to be thorough. You have no idea how many places old code can hide until you've had to respond to a discovery request. (And its not just code--they want all documents relevant to the patented technology). As your lawyers prepare their case, they will have questions. You'll get calls at 9 PM (in the timezone of the court that the suit is filed in, not your time zone) asking questions about source code. The lawyers need the answer to file a motion that is due in three hours. The code is 10 year old code that you haven't looked at in 9 years, and you weren't even the main developer. But you'd better be able to answer the question, 'cause a lot of money is riding on it. Oh, and there are depositions. That's where the other side gets to have a couple days to ask you questions about that 10 year old source code, and also ask you about all kinds of emails and other things they received in discovery. Try this, check all your email for a week about your current projects, and ask yourself "is there any way a hostile lawyer could use this email to make me look bad?". For most, the answer is "yes". Some joking reference to a competitor that was funny at the time, say, is not at all funny when you are sitting in a room full of lawyers, being video taped as they ask you questions about it. This is all very disruptive. It's barely tolerable for a year. Five years...ugh!