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Ask HN: Just got sued by patent troll – what should I do?
Hi fellow hackers, I could use some help here. We developed an simple location sharing app 3~4 years ago, and got sued yesterday along with Apple, Google, Verizon, Sprint, T-mobile[1], Glympse[2] by some company called Remote Locator Systems LLC in Texas. They claim that we infringed their patent called "Method and Apparatus for Locating Personnel and Objects in Response to Telephone Inquiries". Any one know what we should do about it?
[1] Apple being sued: http://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/28/apple-number-one-target-for-patent-trolls-with-171-cases-in-five-years/, last paragraph.
For everyone being sued, just search for the patent name "Method and Apparatus for Locating Personnel and Objects in Response to Telephone Inquiries" and look at the top 10 results from Google.
[2] Us getting sued along with Glympse and 5 other companies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9alxrfqg8iwcnpa/aries%20app.pdf
- billybob255 13y agoTalk to a lawyer Here's an article from Monday with some advice. http://www.fastcolabs.com/3016290/how-startups-should-handle-patent-infringement-lawsuits http://www.fastcolabs.com/3016290/how-startups-should-handle...
- adestefan 13y agoThis is the only answer that is needed for this question. Everything else are people playing arm chair lawyer.
- angkec 13y agoThank you! I'll check it out.
- 6d0debc071 13y agoSee whether any of your friends, preferably who run businesses like yours, have recommendations for a good lawyer for this area. Or, if they don't, whether they can recommend a good lawyer in another area who can recommend a good lawyer for patent law.
- angkec 13y agoThanks. We are contacting a lawyer now. Hopefully not gonna be very expensive for a $100/mo hobby app.
- cryofan 13y agoyou could go pro se -IAAFL
- FurrBall 13y agoPatent law needs to be overhauled. It's getting ridiculous. If you are successful you WILL be sued by a troll for infringing their "breathing air" patent. I don't have advice, only sympathy.
- angkec 13y agoThanks. Funny that we are not even remotely successful with the said app. Monthly sales of $150 range and it is strictly a hobby app since maintenance costs around $10/mo.
- salahxanadu 13y agoSell it to them for a million dollars then.
- angkec 13y agoIs this remotely possible? Just interested.
- orclev 13y agoOur only hope at this point is that that company that got a patent on patent trolling will sue all the patent trolls out of business for violating their patent.
- sehrope 13y agoThere's a specific type of a patent for that too[1]. Unfortunately unless your hypothetical saviour company filed it quite a while back I'm pretty sure there's too much "prior art" for this idea to work. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_method_patent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_method_patent
- 6d0debc071 13y agoI wonder whether what we need is, in fact, some sort of collective scheme - like a form of indemnity insurance. Patent trolls are stronger than individual companies, and rely on them not being able to fund the legal defence, but they're in no way stronger than even a small expense from all the companies that they might sue put together.
- epeus 13y agoThis EFF site is a good resource: https://trollingeffects.org/ https://trollingeffects.org/
- purplelobster 13y agoJust as a curiosity, do these patent trolls mainly target US companies? What is the environment like for patents and trolls in the EU for instance?
- kjs3 13y agoMight want to send your story to Ken White, et. al., at http://www.popehat.com http://www.popehat.com. If they get sufficiently interested/outraged, they can help set you find an appropriate lawyer in your area and can publicize your case. I'd also contact www.chillingeffects.org.
- angkec 13y agoThanks buddy! Will give them a try.
- ClickyBot 13y agoclickys: http://www.dropbox.com/s/9alxrfqg8iwcnpa/aries%20app.pdf http://www.dropbox.com/s/9alxrfqg8iwcnpa/aries%20app.pdf, http://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/28/apple-number-one-target-for-patent-trolls-with-171-cases-in-five-years/ http://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/28/apple-number-one-target-...,