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In one British case I was involved in, the troll's strategy was so obvious they were required to put up a bond to cover at least part of our side's legal fees i
by mhandley 12y ago
In one British case I was involved in, the troll's strategy was so obvious they were required to put up a bond to cover at least part of our side's legal fees if they lost. That's a pretty good way to reduce completely frivolous cases.
They did eventually lose (we invalidated their patent). We were still out of pocket, but if their patent had been even weaker, I think they'd have backed out when they had to post the bond.
- shasta 12y ago> the troll's strategy was so obvious they were required to put up a bond to cover at least part of our side's legal fees if they lost. Yeah, how much money did you spend getting to that point?
- mhandley 12y agoThat part, only the client knows. But I'd guess at least £1m (out of £3m or so total legal costs on our side). These cases are not cheap if they get as far as going to court.
- bradleyjg 12y agoThe difference is that under the English rule there's a presumption that the loser pays the winner's legal costs, while under the American rule the presumption is that each side bears their own costs. In a few areas of law, Congress has by statute adopted the English rule, and in those areas it is common for courts to insist on posting a bond, but in places where the American rule is in place it is very uncommon to do so.