4 ms·

IANAL and I don't have any business to sue, but my mind wanders about "creative" approaches to patent trolls. 1. I live in Houston, which is a reasonable drive

IANAL and I don't have any business to sue, but my mind wanders about "creative" approaches to patent trolls. 1. I live in Houston, which is a reasonable drive from the eastern district of Texas. If I got sued, I'd probably show up in court just to make them show up in court. 2. I wonder if a layered defense would work? "Every problem in computer science can be solved by yet another level of indirection." I've read about holding company structures where Company A holds the trademarks, code, IP, etc. for a business and then licenses it for use by Company B. Company B is a shell that passes back everything to Company A. The only one doing business potentially "making, using or selling" the potentially patented IP is Company B, which can string the troll along, then close up business overnight and reappear as Company C, with new licensing agreements from Company A. Probably doesn't work long term, but it sure would slow them down. 3. What about "patent troll delayers" as a service? These would be people who live near the court that are given, say, 0.01% of the company. As "owners" of the company, they may appear in court pro se, without hiring a lawyer. I think there are requirements to be in the patent bar before appearing in patent trials, so pro se is not an option, but just showing up, acting pissed off, and demanding your rights might gum up enough of the court's docket to be some major friction in the troll's process. We aren't talking about million dollar judgements here, just enough friction to cost more than the settlement amount they were looking for. Imagine if the federal judge had to take time to throw out pro se defendants in hundreds of cases. There goes the court's schedule, and it would make great television.

DannyBee 13y ago
1. Uh, they have local lawyers in EDTX, and those lawyers are friendly with the judges. They are happy to. In fact, in EDTX, they have (or at least had) a local counsel requirement (IE if you didn't live there, you needed to also have an attorney who was local be retained), and plenty of local counsel charged ridiculous rates for the privilege 2. They'll just sue everyone anyway. What you are arguing about is the merits. Most have never cared about the merits. They care about getting settlements, or large verdicts in some small cases. 3. This is a great way to get thrown in jail for contempt.
- bnycum 13y ago
  Regarding #1, EDTX allows any attorney of any state bar, not just of Texas to be admitted to practice. I live within a 30 minute drive to Marshall, TX. There are plenty of lawyers and attorneys around their courthouse too, which I have to imagine rake in cash. Check out page 36, "Admission to Practice". http://www.txed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/view_document.cgi?document=1164#page=36 http://www.txed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/view_document.cgi?docum...
  - DannyBee 13y ago
    What you say is true, but not at odds with what I said. Even though they technically allow it, pro hac vice is not that common, and it takes a while for them to process out-of-state admissions usually. They used to have an explicit rule, similar to LR 83.10 that you can find still in the northern district http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/pdf/CIVRULES.pdf http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/pdf/CIVRULES.pdf
marme 13y ago
it has been ruled many times that owners of a company can not represent a corporation pro se because a corporation is consider its own legal entity separate from the owners so a corporation must hire a lawyer to represent them in court. The only exception is if the owner is a bar licensed lawyer then he can represent the corporation pro bono but his actions as owner and lawyer are considered seperate
troels 13y ago
I wonder if there are ways to legally insure against trolls. Say, a patent lawyer might open up an insurance. As a company, you pay a monthly fee of some amount (say $1000). If nothing happens, then money goes straight in that lawyers pocket, but if you're sued by a patent troll, he will handle the case for you, including going to court if needed. You could even further extend the concept with an insurance against any losses that might be the result of a lost law suit, thereby making the whole thing completely risk-free for the insured. You'll have to run the math on how common these law suits are vs. what the costs are to run the case, but effectively it could be amortized over a lot of people, so it might make sense. Further, with time the trolls would realise that members of this union/insurance are not easy targets, so they would probably back off rather than going all the way to court. Thereby making it cheaper for the members. Not sure if it exists already.
jmcqk6 13y ago
Regarding 3, a funnier option might be to pollute the jury pool by giving stock to everyone they can in the district (Eastern Texas).
- DannyBee 13y ago
  You think you are kidding, but there are days i think it would be a better use of money to just buy a football stadium for the local teams, etc

DannyBee 13y ago

1. Uh, they have local lawyers in EDTX, and those lawyers are friendly with the judges. They are happy to. In fact, in EDTX, they have (or at least had) a local counsel requirement (IE if you didn't live there, you needed to also have an attorney who was local be retained), and plenty of local counsel charged ridiculous rates for the privilege 2. They'll just sue everyone anyway. What you are arguing about is the merits. Most have never cared about the merits. They care about getting settlements, or large verdicts in some small cases. 3. This is a great way to get thrown in jail for contempt.

bnycum 13y ago
Regarding #1, EDTX allows any attorney of any state bar, not just of Texas to be admitted to practice. I live within a 30 minute drive to Marshall, TX. There are plenty of lawyers and attorneys around their courthouse too, which I have to imagine rake in cash. Check out page 36, "Admission to Practice". http://www.txed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/view_document.cgi?document=1164#page=36 http://www.txed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/view_document.cgi?docum...
- DannyBee 13y ago
  What you say is true, but not at odds with what I said. Even though they technically allow it, pro hac vice is not that common, and it takes a while for them to process out-of-state admissions usually. They used to have an explicit rule, similar to LR 83.10 that you can find still in the northern district http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/pdf/CIVRULES.pdf http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/pdf/CIVRULES.pdf

marme 13y ago

it has been ruled many times that owners of a company can not represent a corporation pro se because a corporation is consider its own legal entity separate from the owners so a corporation must hire a lawyer to represent them in court. The only exception is if the owner is a bar licensed lawyer then he can represent the corporation pro bono but his actions as owner and lawyer are considered seperate

troels 13y ago

I wonder if there are ways to legally insure against trolls. Say, a patent lawyer might open up an insurance. As a company, you pay a monthly fee of some amount (say $1000). If nothing happens, then money goes straight in that lawyers pocket, but if you're sued by a patent troll, he will handle the case for you, including going to court if needed. You could even further extend the concept with an insurance against any losses that might be the result of a lost law suit, thereby making the whole thing completely risk-free for the insured. You'll have to run the math on how common these law suits are vs. what the costs are to run the case, but effectively it could be amortized over a lot of people, so it might make sense. Further, with time the trolls would realise that members of this union/insurance are not easy targets, so they would probably back off rather than going all the way to court. Thereby making it cheaper for the members. Not sure if it exists already.

jmcqk6 13y ago

Regarding 3, a funnier option might be to pollute the jury pool by giving stock to everyone they can in the district (Eastern Texas).

DannyBee 13y ago
You think you are kidding, but there are days i think it would be a better use of money to just buy a football stadium for the local teams, etc