You have probably heard of the Big 3 of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh and of the impact they made in the NBA this past off season when the three made the decision to join forces on the Miami Heat. Of course most of that impact has been made in the hype more than the product on the court. That is, so far.
But there is another Big 3 who are making an impact on the court as well, just not the basketball type. Much a-do has been said about the trend of patent infringement litigation taking place in East Texas and the appropriately named “patent trolls” who are responsible for the substantial growth of these cases. But the beginning of this trend was due, in part, to three men: Judge T. John Ward of Marshall, Judge Leonard Davis of Tyler, and Judge David Folsom of Texarkana.
These three men have made an impact due to the consistency in which plaintiffs of patent infringements win their cases in their courts. Now, there is no way we can say if these findings are not legitimate, but what we can say is that the perceived favoritism towards these plaintiffs has opened up a can of worms. Like sharks smelling blood in the water, these patent trolls came running for the opportunity to cash in on their strategy of using bought off patents to try and snag other businesses in patent infringements.
And it looks like they have found a home, especially when you consider that in a stretch of 3 years the number of patent infringement cases multiplied almost 20 times! Just like the Miami Heat are finding out about their “Big 3” East Texas is learning that too much of a good thing isn’t always so good.
Note: We are not saying Patent Harbor LLC is a patent troll we are just pointing out that others have said online that they are and we were seeing if some of the claims like empty offices and so forth were true. As far as we know they are a good well meaning patent owning company who is simply defending themselves against dishonest companies that have infringed upon their patents. Maybe they take long lunch breaks and work late at night.
Going on now for about 10 years the Eastern District Court of Texas has been at home handling patent litigation cases and it seems finds themselves being best fit to handle these lawsuits.
The patent holding companies are many times non practicing entities or, more bluntly, patent trolls, that have a larger chance of winning in this court than in other courts in the US. Because of the statistical odds of a defendant losing a patent infringement court case in this court the first legal option of the accused is to move for a change of venue to an unbiased federal district court.
To talk of a power trip for a court or judge this would be one of those as a plaintiff stands to receieve over $100 million dollars every few months one of these lawsuits goes to court in the Eastern District Courts.
The defendants in these cases rush to get the lawsuit changed to another court due to the belief that the Eastern District Court in Marshall Texas, Judge T. John Ward presiding, is friendly towards the plaintiffs in these cases more times than not.
Now there is nothing wrong with suing a company for infringing upon your patent but when digging under the legal jargon what the laymen would like to know is what’s really going on? What’s all the fuss?
Well many although not all of these plaintiffs suing large companies like JVC, Apple, Microsoft, and others are buying up patents on the cheap and then finding large companies that have infringed upon these patents.
Once they have a big list of companies to sue sometimes only a few weeks before filing the lawsuit they will open up an office in Tyler Texas. Sometimes the office will be in Tyler Texas or Marshall where the Eastern District Court is located.
Although the office will have employees the employees are usually rarely there and it is obvious that the office many times nothing more than a, “recent, ephemeral, and an artifact of litigation appear[ing] to exist for no other purpose than to manipulate venue.”
This description would make sense as an office with no employees simply to get the trial in a court that will side with your lawsuit seems a bit suspicious although apparently legal. Recently however the Federal Circuit Court has started to dismiss these offices and the incorporations in Texas because of the obvious manipulation of court venue.
When a defendant in the past has attempted to move the court case out of the Eastern District Court the request has frequently been denied. These denials prompt a jolt of fear into the defendants game plan resulting in many cases being settled out of court because of the denial and the disadvantages to fighting it in the Eastern District Court.
The Federal Circuit court is now seeing an obvious gaming of the legal system in these patent cases as they quote, “a classic case where the plaintiff is attempting to game the system.” in reference to the In re Zimmer court case.
If these patent companies really are attempting to game the system and stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars why don’t they take it a step further and actually have employees in these offices? You would think they would want to go out of there way to establish more of a real presence in these offices?
Future court cases being tried in the Eastern District Court are more likely to grant a change of venue to defendants who often reside outside of Texas and where the plaintiffs are usually out of state as well although “gaming the system” as the Federal Circuit Court would say.
The district court’s denial that they are being disruptive to the principles set forth in the transfer law just to handle these high profile cases is unbelievable and glaringly obvious to the average citizen. What’s up over there in Marshall Texas?
These court cases cost these innovative US companies millions of dollars as well as harm consumers who must deal with rising costs associated with these products because of patent litigation insurance that must be taken out to insure themselves against the potential of a lawsuit.
Once the Eastern District stops fighting against the Federal Circuit Courts wishes East Texas may have another problem in store. These patent holding companies can sue local technology companies in Tyler Texas that have infringed on a patent in some broad general definition of infringement.
Since the defendant company is in East Texas already there is no need to game the system regarding venue as they can just sue any of us small time local companies here in Tyler and the surrounding East Texas community. That’s when this starts to effect us.
I imagine the judge in Marshall Texas wouldn’t be seen so kindly once it starts hurting local East Texans.
When people talk about “property rights”, a common quote is “Possession is nine tenths of the law”. For example, little Johnny is playing in the dirt with a red dump truck. Charlie wants to play with the dump truck, so he tells the teacher that the dump truck belongs to him and he wants it back. The teacher replies, “Johnny brought that dump truck from home, and he’s playing with it. It’s his property, and it belongs to him.” Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?
But what happens when the item at the center of a property dispute is not something you can put your hands on, but is a creation of the mind? Intellectual property, things like inventions, novels, plays, music, drawings, trademarks, sculptures, and photographs can have more value than say, a dump truck. This is where intellectual property right laws come into play. But how do you place value on something that is intangible?
From a legal standpoint, intellectual property is divided into two categories: industrial property and copyrights, and infringement suits involving intellectual property are popping up in unlikely places these days. Lawsuits that once filled dockets in California and New York are now commonplace in East Texas, an area that is becoming known as a haven these types of property right law suits.
In intellectual property litigation, the potential for large settlement payments is huge, particularly when a tough judge is presiding. That’s why in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which is known for favoring plaintiffs and for expertise in patent and intellectual property right suits, defendants often choose to cut their losses and settle rather than fight.
Just like anywhere else, East Texas property law is pretty straightforward. But what about property that isn’t an item like a car or jewelry. This is where intellectual property rights law comes into play. Things like inventions, works of writing, music, drawings, molds, and photographs are examples of what falls under the category of East Texas intellectual property rights law.
It is indeed tough to place a value on an intangible object such as an idea. If you are familiar with copyrights, then you are somewhat familiar with intellectual property rights law. Copyright law is actually a branch of intellectual property law, but it requires that the intellectual property be transferred into a tangible form in order for a copyright to be awarded. For example, a thought is made tangible when an author writes a book.
Obviously, this can lead to confusion and arguments in some cases that end up in our judicial system. In East Texas, property rights law suits are very popular and demand is increasing. Large settlements are common during intellectual property litigation, and there are many of these lawsuits filling up East Texas courtrooms. It’s like the attorneys new asbestos cancer gold mine.
In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, defendants often choose to cut their losses and settle rather than fight. This is due to the fact that this court is known to favor plaintiffs and for expertise in patent and intellectual property rights suits.
Over the last few years, East Texas has become one of the most popular spots in the country for patent trolls and others seeking an almost sure win for a patent or copyright infringement case. The district court in East Texas is pretty well known for siding with plaintiffs in patent cases. Traditionally, patent trolls hire specialized patent lawyers to fight their battles for them and to seek out companies or other entities that hold patents they could buy and capitalize on.
So, what do patent trolls do? These companies that are called patent trolls buy up patents from other companies and then hire lawyers to prove infringement. In some cases, lawyers have simply become patent trolls individually thanks to the almost guaranteed or not-so-guaranteed depending on how you look at it payout, especially if you wind up in an East Texas court room. These companies could care less about the patents themselves or the products that could be made from them. Instead, they are simply after the money that they stand to earn by settling a lawsuit out of court.
With such a lenient court system or maybe not when looking further into it, iis it a surprise that Tyler and East Texas houses plenty of patent trolls and has for the last decade or so. Sadly, the companies that have to defend themselves from patent trolls stand to lose the most during a court case. For this reason, these companies instead settle outside of court with the patent troll. In many cases, this was all the patent troll wanted.
If you need to shop for a good patent troll attorney in Tyler Texas this is a good place to start: Tyler Texas Patent Law Attorneys
You have probably heard of the Big 3 of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh and of the impact they made in the NBA this past off season when the three made the decision to join forces on the Miami Heat. Of course most of that impact has been made in the hype more than the product on the court. That is, so far.
