4 ms·

Is there some historical reason East Texas is a rubber stamp mill for patents and troll suits or is it just something they decided was a good way to make money?

by api 7y ago

WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
Conservative area where a lot of companies spend money to be known to be the 'good guys'.
- yspeak 7y ago
  ?? Non sequitur. Big corporations were being killed by the filings in East Texas. Only winners are the trolls and their lawyers.
codyro 7y ago
I want to say a few years ago there was a "positive" verdict in a jurisdiction in Texas which set precedent which is why you see filings over there. Let me see if I can find a reference and I'll update this comment. EDIT https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/supreme-court-ends-texas-grip-patent-cases https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/supreme-court-ends-tex...
redis_mlc 7y ago
Initially, they developed a specialty in that type of case. You can't expect to walk into an average court that's unfamiliar with patent law and leave happy. Over time, they were bribed with public amenities by large companies. You know, the usual. Now some litigants are moving elsewhere to avoid the above.
di4na 7y ago
Yes. The main attorney specialised in patent law there is the son and nephew of the judges. They made a business of it
- pwneror 7y ago
  Leonard Davis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Davis_(judge)#Patent_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Davis_(judge)#Patent_l... Bo Davis - https://www.davisfirm.com/attorneys/bo-davis/ https://www.davisfirm.com/attorneys/bo-davis/
rayiner 7y ago
Back in the early 1990s, Texas Instruments was looking for a district to bring its patent litigation. The federal district courts in Dallas and Austin were clogged with criminal cases. East Texas was relatively open for civil suits to proceed quickly: https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/patently-unfair/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/patently-unfair/ The district is also not as random as people make it out to be. It’s a few hours east of Dallas, and includes some of the rich suburb/satellite cities like Plano. It’s got a significant oil and chemical industry.
- api 7y ago
  Ahh... that's probably it: the prevalence of physical industries like petrochemicals, oil drilling, etc. Patents make vastly more sense when applied to physical artifacts.

Is there some historical reason East Texas is a rubber stamp mill for patents and troll suits or is it just something they decided was a good way to make money?

by api 7y ago

Is there some historical reason East Texas is a rubber stamp mill for patents and troll suits or is it just something they decided was a good way to make money?

WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago

Conservative area where a lot of companies spend money to be known to be the 'good guys'.

yspeak 7y ago
?? Non sequitur. Big corporations were being killed by the filings in East Texas. Only winners are the trolls and their lawyers.

codyro 7y ago

I want to say a few years ago there was a "positive" verdict in a jurisdiction in Texas which set precedent which is why you see filings over there. Let me see if I can find a reference and I'll update this comment. EDIT https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/supreme-court-ends-texas-grip-patent-cases https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/supreme-court-ends-tex...

redis_mlc 7y ago

Initially, they developed a specialty in that type of case. You can't expect to walk into an average court that's unfamiliar with patent law and leave happy. Over time, they were bribed with public amenities by large companies. You know, the usual. Now some litigants are moving elsewhere to avoid the above.

di4na 7y ago

Yes. The main attorney specialised in patent law there is the son and nephew of the judges. They made a business of it

pwneror 7y ago
Leonard Davis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Davis_(judge)#Patent_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Davis_(judge)#Patent_l... Bo Davis - https://www.davisfirm.com/attorneys/bo-davis/ https://www.davisfirm.com/attorneys/bo-davis/

rayiner 7y ago

Back in the early 1990s, Texas Instruments was looking for a district to bring its patent litigation. The federal district courts in Dallas and Austin were clogged with criminal cases. East Texas was relatively open for civil suits to proceed quickly: https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/patently-unfair/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/patently-unfair/ The district is also not as random as people make it out to be. It’s a few hours east of Dallas, and includes some of the rich suburb/satellite cities like Plano. It’s got a significant oil and chemical industry.

api 7y ago
Ahh... that's probably it: the prevalence of physical industries like petrochemicals, oil drilling, etc. Patents make vastly more sense when applied to physical artifacts.