Looks Like Judges Are Getting Fed Up With Bogus Patent Lawsuits Too
from the about-time dept
While patent attorneys seem to love filing suits in East Texas, I'm guessing they may try to start avoiding filing suits in Colorado. Slashdot alerts us to the news that a District Court Judge in Colorado didn't just overturn a jury's ruling of patent infringement by BrainLAB against Medtronic, he also scolded Medtronic's lawyers for "abusive" behavior and demanded those lawyers pay BrainLAB's legal bills. Specifically, the judge, Richard P. Matsch, found that the two litigators who argued the case on Medtronic's behalf ignored the limitations and misled the jury. As Matsch noted:"At trial, [McDermott]'s conduct was in disregard for the duty of candor, reflecting an attitude of 'what can I get away with?' Throughout the trial, the [McDermott] lawyers artfully avoided the limitations of the patent claims and created an illusion of infringement. They did so with full awareness that their case was without merit."It's also worth pointing out that the two lawyers in question are generally well-respected (and expensive) IP litigators, rather than just random lawyers (as you might otherwise assume from the judge's comments). Yet, given how freely the court system has allowed patent litigation to run rampant, it's no surprise to see some patent attorneys push the envelope. However, it really is great to see a judge smack them down in such a strong manner, as it may wake up some other patent attorneys.
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Filed Under: bogus lawsuits, patents
Companies: brainlab, medtronic
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10th Circuit?
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Re:
At the same time, it'd be really great to see lawyers back off of simply following the money and reprisenting only people they honestly feel have legitamate grievances, much as it would be nice to see other businesses realize that it's more important to produce a good product for the betterment of society and not just for profit margins, but I'm not holding my breath for either.
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Re: it's a lawyer's job to win a case
Lawyers, like some other professional industries, regulate themselves rather than having the government do it for them. This is an ideal situation for numerous reasons, but the government will step in if it has to -- the Bar Assoc. has a vested interest in keeping it's reputation (insert lawyer joke here).
For example, Sarbanes-Oxley and the changes to the independence regulations established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
I'm an auditor (we follow the same rules as CPAs) -- the AICPA has established regulatory guidance on who can become a CPA (educational requirement), how you can become a CPA (exam), and what you have to do to remain a CPA (continuing professional education, established guidelines on proper accounting/auditing). When Enron blew up, the gov't came down on not only Enron, but the CPA firm that audited its books -- Arthur Andersen is no more.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that it's not just "do whatever you want" in regards to the law. Eventually it'll come down on the Bar Assoc. if they don't regulate themselves appropriately.
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Re: Moe
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Matsch
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