Why East Texas Judges Just Gave Patent Holders Incentives To Sue More Companies...
from the interpretations-on-transferring-cases... dept
Earlier this year, we noted that the judges in East Texas were actually transferring some patent lawsuits out of the court, following a ruling from a year ago at the appeals court level (CAFC) telling the district courts to move cases to where they were more "convenient." For a few months, however, various patent attorneys have been saying to keep watching, and that the folks in East Texas, who know they have a good thing going, will come up with ways to keep more cases in their favorite courthouse. And... that appears to be happening. In a few recent rulings in Marshall, Texas, Judge Ward has denied attempts to move the cases to more convenient locations, sometimes challenging the question of whether or not they really were more convenient -- but the reasoning doesn't pass the sniff test.In a case brought by a patent holder named MHL Tek, who is based in Michigan, against something around a dozen auto manufacturers, Judge Ward denied the transfer, saying that with so many different parties, it made no sense to claim that Michigan (the requested transfer site) was somehow more convenient:
"With regard to defendants, four defendants reside in Germany, three in California, two in Japan, two in South Korea, two in New Jersey, one each in Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana, and Virginia. The Court finds that this district would, in the least, be just as convenient or inconvenient to most of the defendants as the desired transferee District."So... the plaintiff and at least one of the defendants is based in Michigan (and many of the others have offices there). None of the the parties are based in Texas. But because some of the defendants are based elsewhere, now it's suddenly ok to keep it in East Texas?
What's the likely end result? Any patent holder who wants to make sure a case remains in East Texas should make sure to sue many more companies who are distributed around the country (or the world), just to give judges in East Texas an excuse to keep the case there. That hardly seems to be living up to the spirit of what CAFC intended with its ruling...
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Filed Under: east texas, patent lawsuits, patents
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Disgusting
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Dude...
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Re: Dude...
Be careful when insulting federal judges, punk
Judges and juries are all we have left in this country, the other two branches of our government are f****** up competely and irreversibly
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Re: Re: Dude...
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Re: Re: Dude...
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This is completely normal
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Re: This is completely normal
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I say "End Patent NOW"!
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/549822/?sc=dwhn
Let's pitch all this childish "Ooooh, That waaaas -Myyyyyyyyyyyyyy- idea first!" crap.
Innovate, Instantiate, or get the hell out of the way.
(Mike...Feel free to re-mix, re-use that one.)
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Re: I say "End Patent NOW"!
AND keep it a trade secret, you forgot to add..
One of the primary purposes of the Patent system (other than providing incentives to innovate in the first place) is public disclosure of all patented inventions, so other people can learn from patents and do not need to reinvent the wheel
But you didn't know this, punk, right ?
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Re: Re: I say "End Patent NOW"!
And do -you- know what the most amazing thing about secrets is?
They are -virtually impossible- to keep.
And tossing off blunt ended cliches like "reinvent the wheel" demonstrates that you're not really paying attention are you?
Whole cloth invention is extremely rare anymore. The word 'invention' as it applies to patent these days is an overreaching joke. The vast majority of what is patented these days is simple innovation around the edges of what already exists, or worse, IP land grabbing of what evolution has built over millions of years, or the now discredited "Business Process" nonsense.
And what's with the name calling? How old are you? 12?
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As far as judges go...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13judge.html?em
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Federal diversity jurisdiction
It's a simple question of efficiency in the judicial system. Since plaintiff and some defendants have offices in East Texas, there's no reason to move the case halfway across the country, force the present attorneys to either find replacements or undergo hefty transportation and lodging expenses, make *another* judge go through all the tiresome initial paperwork, etc.
As a postscript, angry dude, the main reason we have so many problems with the executive and legislative branches of government is *because* of the judiciary. :P
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Re: Federal diversity jurisdiction
Huh ???????
Chicken or egg ? Which is first ?
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East Texas
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Re: East Texas
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The stench of Marshall Texas is unbearable
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Where you been?
Under a rock?
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Texas
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Re: Texas
You haven't been around the country much, have you? Try SoCal, you moron.
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miss the point
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Re: miss the point
As the post pointed out (which you apparently missed), for those defendants, there may be no place more convenient, but considering TWO of the parties are in Michigan and NONE are in Texas, it seems quite clear that Michigan is more convenient for some, whereas Texas is inconvenient for all.
Once again it's you who seems to miss the point. You might want to try stepping away from RJR's propaganda and taking a look at the real world.
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East Texas jury pools
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