5 ms·

We have been sued by patent trolls at least seven times in the last ten years, all in Marshall, TX. We also sign onto the amicus brief for the TC Heartland case

by redm 9y ago

We have been sued by patent trolls at least seven times in the last ten years, all in Marshall, TX. We also sign onto the amicus brief for the TC Heartland case. This is a huge victory and what it means, in short, is that we won't get sued in Marshall, TX anymore. That's important because the venue is full of nepotism and extremely plaintiff-friendly. The longer version is we won't have to pay a "toll" to trolls who sue many other companies and us for ridiculous reasons like using OAuth or providing a link to images we host.

staticautomatic 9y ago
Indeed. Delaware and Northern California are about to get very, very busy.
- richdougherty 9y ago
  …but hopefully less busy than Marshall, TX has been.
- jjeaff 9y ago
  I'll wager it won't get crazy busy. The Texas court was letting anything and everything through. It won't take many summary judgements from courts in these jurisdictions before it is no longer profitable to troll. Districts like Delaware have a vested interest in being a business friendly place to file your corporation papers. They won't likely allow the district to become an easy place to file phoney patent suits. And in districts where the companies actually reside will be even less likely to let through these time wasters that damage their biggest employers and shrink their tax base.
  - linkregister 9y ago
    Why would federal judges care about the vested interests of the state of Delaware? I'm not trolling, I just don't get the argument.
    - tonypace 9y ago
      Federal judges are part of the local legal community, just like the law firms that survive by creating Delaware corporations. Social cues and environment affect all of us more than we imagine.
  - staticautomatic 9y ago
    You can't just hand-wave stuff away and assume some rational actor model. Every IP lawyer I know disagrees with you, and I talked to a number of them today about their take. Their phones are blowing up and they're already making preparations to move the cases to Delaware and NDCal.
    - albeebe1 9y ago
      What is NDCal?
      - estsauver 9y ago
        Northern District of California I believe.
        LoonyBalloony 9y ago
        California should be two states or it's own country (imo).
k-mcgrady 9y ago
>> That's important because the venue is full of nepotism and extremely plaintiff-friendly. Could somebody explain this point in detail? Surely the law is the law regardless of where in the country a case is heard.
- mullen 9y ago
  Off the top of my head, but I do remember a case in Texas where the son of the Judge was representing the Plaintiff. The judge refused to excuse himself from the case.
  - rayiner 9y ago
    Source? I highly doubt that's true. There is a (now retired) judge whose son was a lawyer in EDTX. I'm not aware of any case where the judge refused to recuse himself from a case where his son represented one of the litigants.
    - jen_h 9y ago
      Might be true? This doesn't specify whether they worked on the same cases, though. Also seeing articles on Vice & Ars Technica, but neither mention. http://thepriorart.typepad.com/the_prior_art/2008/03/judge-wards-son.html http://thepriorart.typepad.com/the_prior_art/2008/03/judge-w...
      - rayiner 9y ago
        Right, there's a judge whose son is an attorney in the district, but no mention of him presiding over a case where his son is representing a litigant. That would be a serious ethical breach. A judge having a child who is a lawyer in the same district, on the other hand, is perfectly normal.
  - stevenwoo 9y ago
    The son of a federal judge in that district started a law firm that specializes in patent law. Even if his son does not represent clients in front of him, his son makes money, because the judges there did not allow summary judgement for a long time. That judge retired in 2011 but the other judges continued his decisions that make it easier for patent trolls to work. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/why-do-patent-trolls-go-texas-its-not-bbq https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/why-do-patent-trolls-g... http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/168087-stopping-the-patent-troll-scam http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/168087-stopp...

by redm 9y ago

staticautomatic 9y ago

Indeed. Delaware and Northern California are about to get very, very busy.

richdougherty 9y ago
…but hopefully less busy than Marshall, TX has been.
jjeaff 9y ago
I'll wager it won't get crazy busy. The Texas court was letting anything and everything through. It won't take many summary judgements from courts in these jurisdictions before it is no longer profitable to troll. Districts like Delaware have a vested interest in being a business friendly place to file your corporation papers. They won't likely allow the district to become an easy place to file phoney patent suits. And in districts where the companies actually reside will be even less likely to let through these time wasters that damage their biggest employers and shrink their tax base.
- linkregister 9y ago
  Why would federal judges care about the vested interests of the state of Delaware? I'm not trolling, I just don't get the argument.
  - tonypace 9y ago
    Federal judges are part of the local legal community, just like the law firms that survive by creating Delaware corporations. Social cues and environment affect all of us more than we imagine.
- staticautomatic 9y ago
  You can't just hand-wave stuff away and assume some rational actor model. Every IP lawyer I know disagrees with you, and I talked to a number of them today about their take. Their phones are blowing up and they're already making preparations to move the cases to Delaware and NDCal.
  - albeebe1 9y ago
    What is NDCal?
    - estsauver 9y ago
      Northern District of California I believe.
      - LoonyBalloony 9y ago
        California should be two states or it's own country (imo).

k-mcgrady 9y ago

>> That's important because the venue is full of nepotism and extremely plaintiff-friendly. Could somebody explain this point in detail? Surely the law is the law regardless of where in the country a case is heard.

mullen 9y ago
Off the top of my head, but I do remember a case in Texas where the son of the Judge was representing the Plaintiff. The judge refused to excuse himself from the case.
- rayiner 9y ago
  Source? I highly doubt that's true. There is a (now retired) judge whose son was a lawyer in EDTX. I'm not aware of any case where the judge refused to recuse himself from a case where his son represented one of the litigants.
  - jen_h 9y ago
    Might be true? This doesn't specify whether they worked on the same cases, though. Also seeing articles on Vice & Ars Technica, but neither mention. http://thepriorart.typepad.com/the_prior_art/2008/03/judge-wards-son.html http://thepriorart.typepad.com/the_prior_art/2008/03/judge-w...
    - rayiner 9y ago
      Right, there's a judge whose son is an attorney in the district, but no mention of him presiding over a case where his son is representing a litigant. That would be a serious ethical breach. A judge having a child who is a lawyer in the same district, on the other hand, is perfectly normal.
- stevenwoo 9y ago
  The son of a federal judge in that district started a law firm that specializes in patent law. Even if his son does not represent clients in front of him, his son makes money, because the judges there did not allow summary judgement for a long time. That judge retired in 2011 but the other judges continued his decisions that make it easier for patent trolls to work. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/why-do-patent-trolls-go-texas-its-not-bbq https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/why-do-patent-trolls-g... http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/168087-stopping-the-patent-troll-scam http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/168087-stopp...