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Choosing an East Texas Court Forum

January 11th, 2011

court forum patent trollThe Discovery Channels popular program “Myth busters” pride themselves on discovering whether or not a presupposition is correct. Well, I have a myth that needs some busting.

Is the eastern court district of Texas the best forum for patent infringement cases? Patent litigation has become more than protecting your intellectual property rights, it has become a form of business for some.

There is a genre of companies who carry the “patent troll” label based on the unethical business of obtaining patents from other businesses or firms in order to use them to collect financial rewards in patent infringement lawsuits.

Whether it’s one of these “patent troll” cases or your normal run-of-the-mill case, the plaintiff has the right to choose what “forum” or court location the case is brought to.

And throughout the patent litigation world, East Texas has become the place to go. But the question is, are the reasons why myth or reality? It has been explained that the major factors for East Texas becoming the location of choice is due to rocket docket (fast processing of patent infringement cases) and percentage of plaintiff victories.

But the truth is, in a recent investigation of patent litigation cases throughout the United States, the eastern district of Texas does not even rank in the top 5 of either one of those categories.

When it comes to “rocket docket” East Texas ranks in the bottom half and in victory percentage for plaintiffs it ranks 7th place. So is East Texas the ideal forum for patent infringement lawsuits?

When it comes to technical ranking, no it is not the best. But, just like the aging star athlete, reputation and experience can matter more, and I think that is what still makes East Texas the most popular forum.

Coalition of Patent Fairness hopes to end corrupt nature of some patent litigation

December 23rd, 2010
patent fairness coalition fighting patent attorneysA lot has been said about so called “patent trolls” creating a ruckus with their abuse of the legal system in order to gain wealth. This practice of obtaining and using held patent rights to gain financial rewards by targeting larger, successful businesses for patent infringements has been greatly looked down upon.

This victimization of large companies has woken a sleeping giant and resulted in the formation of the Coalition of Patent Fairness in order to address the abuse of patent infringement. But, as we use to say back in the day, while big companies have their one finger pointing in accusation, there are 3 more pointing back at them. It looks like the big guys are going after each other as well. In what has become a highly competitive race for the best “smartphone” the big boys are getting a little dirty.
Although patent infringement is a legitimate concern, it seems to me that Apple and Motorola are getting a little petty as each has filed lawsuit against one another for technology “copycatting”. Motorola was the first to strike after filing suit versus Apple for tech infringements concerning the iPhone, iTouch, iPad. But Apple has hit back more recently after filing for tech infringement of their touchscreen and display application versus Motorola and their Droid phone.

And based on Apples choice of Wisconsin for the filing, it looks like they mean to take care of business fast. East Texas has long been seen as the location of choice, but due to the back up of so many patent litigation cases, Wisconsin is quickly gaining recognition as the fastest docket in the nation. Despite location choice, these two companies actions versus one another looks to have taken the edge off of what can be deemed as “unethical” business done by “patent trolls”.