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Find or Refer a Contractor in Tyler

Small east Texas towns a stopping place for big time lawyer folk

May 5th, 2011

Who is that suited man? Flashing onto the scene, with head held high, coming to save the day. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, its Superman… er, I mean, a bunch of lawyers? Life in the small towns of Texarkana and Marshall has become increasingly different the past few years and the majority of the population knows nothing about it.

These two towns have become a stopping point for teams of lawyers and legal representatives of big businesses. Many of the local businesses have taken notice because of the increase in patronage but the rest of the inhabitants of these quaint little towns can only scratch their heads and shrug their shoulders in wonder.

Unbeknownst to them, their home town has become battleground for patent infringement litigation cases of the heavy weights of the business world. The likes of Texas Instrument Cisco and TiVo have come to town to settle their cases versus “patent trolls” trying to make a buck off of them.

The oddity of seeing their favorite local restaurants full of suit and ties, of fax machines and copiers being loaded off of trailers and of long-time empty buildings in downtown being renovated has stirred up some questions, but for the most part, normal life continues on.

With the likes of hundreds of millions of dollars hanging in the balance in their court house, John and Jane Doe’s main concern is if “Law & Order” will be a rerun.

The phenomenon taking place in Marshall and Texarkana is the likes of a good western movie. Riding out of the Texas town triumphant, as the dust settles the townspeople look to one another and ask “Who was that suited man?”

Eastern Federal court and the USPTO, Who is to blame for patent litigation run a muck?

January 5th, 2011

district court eastern district of texasFor those who hadn’t seen the show “Marriage Ref” one thing that happens to you when you watch is you find yourself quickly trying to identify who you side with. Taking you through a collage of video footage, you hear about a problem in the marriage and watch as celebrities and the host decides who is at fault.

I’m thinking we should set up a “Marriage Ref” between the eastern federal court district of Texas and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). And the problem?

Who’s more to blame for the out of control patent infringement litigation trend? On one side is East Texas’ very own establishing a standard of court decisions that has rewarded the majority patent holders of infringement.

On the other side is the USPTO and what could be seen as a low standard for patents to be given. Although giving the blame to one or the other isn’t as important as dealing with the problem itself. There is a laundry list of reasons that can be given as to why the obvious abuse of patent litigation needs to be stopped.

There is also a pretty good list of what can be done to hinder this. But these two groups stand at opposite ends of the spectrum with potential to put an end to this abuse. At the grass roots the USPTO can raise the standard of issuance of patents to be more clear in its distinction and perhaps concerning the manufacturing of the patent invention.

At the other end, court districts like the ones in East Texas can tweak its standard of what real damage has happened and the amount of compensation. Either way, something needs to be done to get this marriage cleaned up.

Home of the best ever patent litigation judge this side of Pecos

January 3rd, 2011

John Ward Marshall TexasYou’ve seen the signs. It usually takes place as your entering into a county, small town, and even a few medium sized cities. Just as you drive up, you look to see what the highway sign says and there you see it, “Home of…” and thereafter follows the name of the local man or woman who has made some type of impact to bring recognition to their hometown.

I remember one of the most recent examples I’ve seen while passing through New Mexico. There it was, “Home of Brian Urlacher.” Of course, like any red blooded American I recognized the name of the Chicago Bears bone crushing linebacker.

When thinking about the type of recognition a couple of local boys are getting in the towns of Marshall, Texarkana, and Tyler I’m starting to wonder if their names deserve being put on a highway sign. I can see it now, “Home of T. John Ward Jr.” What, you don’t recognize the name?

Let me elaborate. For those who have not heard, there is a trend taking place in the court rooms of these 3 East Texas towns that has waves of lawyers and legal representatives from all parts of the United States flooding in, and they are getting beat out by the local guy.

This trend is the ever growing patent infringement litigation cases. Due to favorable decisions for plaintiffs of patent infringement cases, anyone looking to win their case makes sure it happens in East Texas.

And this includes patent trolls, those appropriately labeled businesses that only look to buy patents from other businesses in order to use them for these types of infringement cases. And when it comes to winning these cases, the local names are getting game. One key ingredient to winning cases in these counties is to have a local lawyer who knows the jury and what they want to hear.

With big names companies entering in these cases you would expect to hear big name lawyers, but rather, the names you hear are from the graduating class of ’72 of the local high school, and that’s something to hang your hat on.

Patent Trolls come home to East Texas for Christmas pay day

December 22nd, 2010

Christmas Patent TrollYou 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.

Reform to Patent Litigation in Marshall Texas

December 21st, 2010

marshall texas patent trollsLike a modern day Alamo, the people of the Republic of Texas in Marshall need to board up the windows and doors and get ready for the fight of their life. Except it’s not the Mexican Army that’s coming, it’s the Coalition for Patent Fairness. And let me tell you, they have some heavy hitters. In response to heavy hits that they have been taking, some large businesses have formed or joined this coalition in order to bring reform to how patents and patent litigation is done.

The list includes popular companies like Apple, Cisco, Dell, Google, Intel, Microsoft, and Palm. We could confidently say that it’s not so much what is taking place in the courts of East Texas with their high rate of rewarded patent infringement lawsuits that has become the enemy of these companies than the whole system of patent litigation itself. The groups formed in this coalition have clearly stated on their website the ammunition they plan on using for the fight, this includes no more forums shopping, putting a cap on damages, and the standard of whether or not infringement has taken place.

These weapons of choice will make a big impact in infringement cases and thus, a direct attack against the gold mine that has come to East Texas. Although there is not a lot being said in the media, this coalition is quietly gathering an powerful army that includes the likes of the institutions of Federal Trade Commission and National Academy of Sciences, media giants like New York Times and Los Angeles Times, as well as President Barak Obama stating that it is part of his economy stimulus agenda.

There is no denying that patent infringement litigation has become a great benefit to the small town of Marshall, but with the pieces that seem to be coming together, it looks like they are in store for the fight of their lives.