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11. Venue is proper in the Eastern District of Texas under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391 and1400(b). PersonalWeb is a limited liability company incorporated in Smith County

11. Venue is proper in the Eastern District of Texas under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391 and1400(b). PersonalWeb is a limited liability company incorporated in Smith County, Texaswith its principal place of business in Tyler, Texas. A substantial part of the events giving riseto the asserted claims occurred in this judicial district, Defendant transact business in this judicial district, and the patents were infringed in this judicial district I think maybe its time for all technology companies everywhere to boycott a certain district in East Texas. Don't ship there. Geolock all services so they aren't useable there. Hell, if Hulu can keep the Canadians out, this should be easy. If nothing else, it would send a message to the people living in that area that their local courts have been hijacked to do some very unfortunate things. It would send a pretty good message to other jurisdictions as well : "make a national nuisance of yourself, lose your interwebs." Want to stay out of patent court? Don't mess with Texas.

jamesaguilar 14y ago
Apparently the win rates in EDT aren't that great any more. Someone posted a link to this effect a few lawsuits ago. The reason why people still file there is because the judges all now have good working knowledge of patent law and that makes trials fairly efficient. Dunno if this is actually true, but.
- noonespecial 14y ago
  It really doesn't matter what the "win rate" is when it costs 1.5 Million and takes 3 years to win. The trolls have their offices there and they appear before the same judges every day. I have no doubt this makes trials fairly efficient for them. A little fear in a court that if they start hearing a bunch of bogus patent cases and generally being troll friendly might make half the internet become inaccessible from their jurisdiction might not be a bad thing. Yes, that's pretty unfair to a lot of people, but unfair seems to be the currency of trade these days.
- Natsu 14y ago
  That ignores the selection effects. Once word of their reputation got out, people started settling the weaker cases rather than litigating in East Texas. They also have helpful local rules, like the one that lets people file a cover sheet with the clerk a day early, getting a case number and priority. So even if you anticipate the lawsuit, you can't get out of EDT, as Cisco found out once upon a time.
sprayk 14y ago
Would it actually be that simple? I can't imagine their lawyers would be lacking enough technically not to show the judge a phone or use a proxy.
- noonespecial 14y ago
  Its not to keep from being sued there. Most of the people I asked that know these things agree that it would provide a thin defense in that regard. Its to send a message. If all of Tyler woke up one morning unable to watch Netflix, search on Google or order from Amazon, a few people might start to wonder WTF is going on.
schmichael 14y ago
Not a fan of net neutrality I take it? As much as I hate patent trolling, I'd hate politics and ridiculous laws to restrict the free flow of information more instead of less.
- carbocation 14y ago
  Noonespecial is talking about private actors, not the state. This is essentially a call for a boycott, and I can't see this as a reflection on noonespecial's views on net neutrality one way or the other.
  - Miky 14y ago
    The whole point of net neutrality is preventing private actors from manipulating the flow of information.
    - Flenser 14y ago
      Flow is not the same as supply. Noonespecial is talking about blocking things at source not by an intermediary.
      - 001sky 14y ago
        Flow is not the same as supply Its like a synthetic variation, not a logically novel form of argument. The flow is cutoff when the supply is witheld. The supply is withheld when the flow is cutoff. Etc.
        Flenser 14y ago
        Cutting off flow is not the same as withholding supply.
        001sky 14y ago
        Functional equivalents, and often the Law will see through such transparency. Are you going to withould supply from [an ethnic group, or a protected class] for example?
beagle3 14y ago
Sounds like a great idea to me. Political activism that may actually work! But is it legal? I know it is not legal to refuse serving based on e.g. skin color, race or gender. And it's legal for a US company to refuse business with Canadians. But is it legal for e.g. a California company to refuse to treat East Texas, or the whole of Texas, equal to North Carolina?
- seandougall 14y ago
  Race is a protected class, as is gender. I don't believe Texanism (Texanity?) is. :-) See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class
  - kd5bjo 14y ago
    Given that the Republic of Texas voluntarily joined the United States, there might be an interesting argument regarding national origin (which is a protected class). There are at least a few diplomatic conventions that stem from this, such as flying the Texas flag at the same height as the US flag, instead of lower.
- omnifarious 14y ago
  I was thinking that it could be covered by the commerce clause. But no, that prevents California as a state passing laws forbidding companies from doing business with Texas. I don't think there are any federal laws demanding equal treatment of different polities by private (rather than state) actors.

jamesaguilar 14y ago

Apparently the win rates in EDT aren't that great any more. Someone posted a link to this effect a few lawsuits ago. The reason why people still file there is because the judges all now have good working knowledge of patent law and that makes trials fairly efficient. Dunno if this is actually true, but.

noonespecial 14y ago
It really doesn't matter what the "win rate" is when it costs 1.5 Million and takes 3 years to win. The trolls have their offices there and they appear before the same judges every day. I have no doubt this makes trials fairly efficient for them. A little fear in a court that if they start hearing a bunch of bogus patent cases and generally being troll friendly might make half the internet become inaccessible from their jurisdiction might not be a bad thing. Yes, that's pretty unfair to a lot of people, but unfair seems to be the currency of trade these days.
Natsu 14y ago
That ignores the selection effects. Once word of their reputation got out, people started settling the weaker cases rather than litigating in East Texas. They also have helpful local rules, like the one that lets people file a cover sheet with the clerk a day early, getting a case number and priority. So even if you anticipate the lawsuit, you can't get out of EDT, as Cisco found out once upon a time.

sprayk 14y ago

Would it actually be that simple? I can't imagine their lawyers would be lacking enough technically not to show the judge a phone or use a proxy.

noonespecial 14y ago
Its not to keep from being sued there. Most of the people I asked that know these things agree that it would provide a thin defense in that regard. Its to send a message. If all of Tyler woke up one morning unable to watch Netflix, search on Google or order from Amazon, a few people might start to wonder WTF is going on.

schmichael 14y ago

Not a fan of net neutrality I take it? As much as I hate patent trolling, I'd hate politics and ridiculous laws to restrict the free flow of information more instead of less.

carbocation 14y ago
Noonespecial is talking about private actors, not the state. This is essentially a call for a boycott, and I can't see this as a reflection on noonespecial's views on net neutrality one way or the other.
- Miky 14y ago
  The whole point of net neutrality is preventing private actors from manipulating the flow of information.
  - Flenser 14y ago
    Flow is not the same as supply. Noonespecial is talking about blocking things at source not by an intermediary.
    - 001sky 14y ago
      Flow is not the same as supply Its like a synthetic variation, not a logically novel form of argument. The flow is cutoff when the supply is witheld. The supply is withheld when the flow is cutoff. Etc.
      - Flenser 14y ago
        Cutting off flow is not the same as withholding supply.
        001sky 14y ago
        Functional equivalents, and often the Law will see through such transparency. Are you going to withould supply from [an ethnic group, or a protected class] for example?

beagle3 14y ago

Sounds like a great idea to me. Political activism that may actually work! But is it legal? I know it is not legal to refuse serving based on e.g. skin color, race or gender. And it's legal for a US company to refuse business with Canadians. But is it legal for e.g. a California company to refuse to treat East Texas, or the whole of Texas, equal to North Carolina?

seandougall 14y ago
Race is a protected class, as is gender. I don't believe Texanism (Texanity?) is. :-) See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class
- kd5bjo 14y ago
  Given that the Republic of Texas voluntarily joined the United States, there might be an interesting argument regarding national origin (which is a protected class). There are at least a few diplomatic conventions that stem from this, such as flying the Texas flag at the same height as the US flag, instead of lower.
omnifarious 14y ago
I was thinking that it could be covered by the commerce clause. But no, that prevents California as a state passing laws forbidding companies from doing business with Texas. I don't think there are any federal laws demanding equal treatment of different polities by private (rather than state) actors.