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This is called the English Rule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule), and is adopted in nearly every Western de

by jmduke 14y ago

This is called the English Rule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule), and is adopted in nearly every Western democracy (besides, of course, the US).

drzaiusapelord 14y ago
How do you stop me from making LLC's or s-corps with almost no assets over and over again to sue? Most patent trolls have next to nothing in assets. If people aren't in threat of losing their savings or their home then they aren't going to care about such rules.
- learc83 14y ago
  The bill proposes that once the plaintiff is declared an NPE they must post a bond to cover the defendant's legal costs.
- dllthomas 14y ago
  Worst case, the court could pierce the corporate veil, but apparently there is the bond requirement mentioned in my sibling comment as well.
rayiner 14y ago
Comparing the U.S. to other western countries is fraught with pitfalls. The English rule discourages private litigation, which is a more reasonable practice in Europe where there is aggressive public enforcement of the law. It's not a sane practice in a country where everything from labor rights to health and environmental rights are largely enforced through private litigation (by design).
- rmc 14y ago
  I assure you that there is loads of private litigation in European countries (eg UK). There's even a term for it "compo culture", there are ads on TV looking for people who have been injured and they sue the other party.
  - bitwize 14y ago
    We call those "ambulance chasers" in the US (though the act of actually following ambulances in search of potential clients is barratry and a crime). I had no idea you guys had them.
    - rmc 14y ago
      If there's money to be made, then there will be sleaze balls who'll try to make money. Happens all over the world, all us humans are alike.
will_brown 14y ago
As the article mentions, but not by name, the US has a similar rule typically called "prevailing party fees". The article also mentions in the US the prevailing party fees must be triggered by statute or a provision of a contract - but fails to mention this is done quite frequently, in fact so much so that I would say while each party bearing its own fees is the rule in the US by default, but the exceptions (prevailing party fee triggered by statute or contract) are used more generally than the default. Aside from common law vs civil law, Europe and the US have fundamentally different legal systems (adversarial vs non-adversarial). I think the non-adversarial system supports the English Rule, while the US adversarial system unnecessarily drives up attorneys fees and costs so legislators authorize attorneys fees only in specific types of cases where it is justified, and of course where a provision is included in a contact (of course parties in the US have the ability to contract such provisions).

by jmduke 14y ago

This is called the English Rule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule), and is adopted in nearly every Western democracy (besides, of course, the US).

drzaiusapelord 14y ago

How do you stop me from making LLC's or s-corps with almost no assets over and over again to sue? Most patent trolls have next to nothing in assets. If people aren't in threat of losing their savings or their home then they aren't going to care about such rules.

learc83 14y ago
The bill proposes that once the plaintiff is declared an NPE they must post a bond to cover the defendant's legal costs.
dllthomas 14y ago
Worst case, the court could pierce the corporate veil, but apparently there is the bond requirement mentioned in my sibling comment as well.

rayiner 14y ago

Comparing the U.S. to other western countries is fraught with pitfalls. The English rule discourages private litigation, which is a more reasonable practice in Europe where there is aggressive public enforcement of the law. It's not a sane practice in a country where everything from labor rights to health and environmental rights are largely enforced through private litigation (by design).

rmc 14y ago
I assure you that there is loads of private litigation in European countries (eg UK). There's even a term for it "compo culture", there are ads on TV looking for people who have been injured and they sue the other party.
- bitwize 14y ago
  We call those "ambulance chasers" in the US (though the act of actually following ambulances in search of potential clients is barratry and a crime). I had no idea you guys had them.
  - rmc 14y ago
    If there's money to be made, then there will be sleaze balls who'll try to make money. Happens all over the world, all us humans are alike.

will_brown 14y ago

As the article mentions, but not by name, the US has a similar rule typically called "prevailing party fees". The article also mentions in the US the prevailing party fees must be triggered by statute or a provision of a contract - but fails to mention this is done quite frequently, in fact so much so that I would say while each party bearing its own fees is the rule in the US by default, but the exceptions (prevailing party fee triggered by statute or contract) are used more generally than the default. Aside from common law vs civil law, Europe and the US have fundamentally different legal systems (adversarial vs non-adversarial). I think the non-adversarial system supports the English Rule, while the US adversarial system unnecessarily drives up attorneys fees and costs so legislators authorize attorneys fees only in specific types of cases where it is justified, and of course where a provision is included in a contact (of course parties in the US have the ability to contract such provisions).