TiVo Bought Some Bull In Marshall, Texas (Literally)

from the or-was-it-the-jury-that-bought-it? dept

Fri, Jun 26th 2009 6:29pm — Mike Masnick

For years we've discussed how patent holders love to file infringement lawsuits in Marshall, Texas. There are a variety of reasons for this, but a big part of it is that the court and the juries there seem extra sympathetic to patent holders. However, when TiVo took Dish Network to court in Marshall, apparently it wanted a little extra something to help push it over the edge. So it bought some bull. Literally.

Two weeks before the jury handed TiVo a $74 million award, the company apparently "paid the record-breaking sum of $10,000" for a "Grand Champion Steer" right in Marshall, Texas. Oh, and they renamed it TiVo. TiVo's lawyers insist it had absolutely nothing to do with winning the case, but, still... why buy the bull? Apparently Samsung -- no stranger to patent litigation -- is also getting involved in "civic" causes in Marshall. There's a local celebratory event called "Stagecoach Days" in Marshall that has recently been (wait for it...) renamed as Samsung Stagecoach Days. Of course, apparently one jury consultant warns that this kind of thing can backfire:

"Buying a cow like that I think is bullshit. I think it's insulting -- the idea that people are so simple that something like that will influence the case."

Well, somebody bought the bull...

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Filed Under: bull, east texas, marshall, patents
Companies: tivo

20 Comments

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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 26 Jun 2009 @ 6:44pm

Pshaw
"Buying a cow like that I think is bullshit. I think it's insulting -- the idea that people are so simple that something like that will influence the case."

That's what Voir Dire is for.
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- Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2009 @ 10:49pm
  
  Re: Pshaw
  "That's what Voir Dire is for."
  
  And that's what jury consultants are for.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2009 @ 7:32pm

If that is all it takes, perhaps the patent trolls should buy a bunch.
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- Anonymous Coward, 26 Jun 2009 @ 10:44pm
  
  Re:
  If that is all it takes, perhaps the patent trolls should buy a bunch.
  
  That would be called a "herd". City slicker, eh?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2009 @ 4:00am
    
    Re: Re:
    so I heard.
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Ruth H. Loud, 26 Jun 2009 @ 10:38pm

Bull
A great bunch of cow-punchers, I'm for TiVo 100 per cent.
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Blatant Coward, 26 Jun 2009 @ 11:22pm

Moo.
Moo.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2009 @ 6:05am

Perhaps it will be seen as jury manipulation and get the venues changed if you did it too heavily.
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CleverName, 27 Jun 2009 @ 6:32am

Question
From whom was the bull purchased
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- Dark Helmet (profile), 29 Jun 2009 @ 2:58pm
  
  Re: Question
  For whom the bull pulls...
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Knows about bull, 27 Jun 2009 @ 9:50am

Usually, if someone purchases a "Grand Champion Steer," that indicates that it was bought at an auction at the end of a livestock show. The steer was probably raised by a teenager who belonged to 4H or was in an agriculture class. Just fyi for CleverName
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2009 @ 1:33pm

I grew up in the area around Marshall (my dad was actually assistant DA there years, years ago) - and can tell you that if anywhere in the world people are dumb enough to be influenced by something like this...
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Homie the Homesteader, 27 Jun 2009 @ 6:44pm

Disgraceful
This is the most disgraceful things I've ever heard about *our* justice system.

To think, the American revolution was basically fought to rid ourselves of a government of foreign aristocrats. Who the hell do these stupid plebe crackers think they are serving by this?
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2009 @ 5:11am

$10k seems like a bargin for a "Grand Champion" bull.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 29 Jun 2009 @ 6:37am

Haha
"I got up early and milked the cow."

"The cow?"

"Yeah. She was shy at first, but I kept working her and got a whole bucketfull of milk."

"Son, we ain't got a cow....we got a bull."
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staff1, 29 Jun 2009 @ 9:05am

shocking!
I am outraged! Why cant they be like all the other tech firms (MicroSoft, Intel, Apple, etc.) and just bribe their senators, representatives, and Obama? But then that would cost a lot more.
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bill, 29 Jun 2009 @ 1:53pm

Bulls
Most bulls of this nature sell for far greater amounts. Ive seen them go for 50000 on up and in the hundreds of thousands.

Most of the money is given to charity or to the kid who raised it as scholarship money etc.

10,000 is a steal.
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- Dark Helmet (profile), 29 Jun 2009 @ 2:57pm
  
  Re: Bulls
  No, it's infringement...
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Mike, 14 Jul 2009 @ 8:01pm

BullSh*t!
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2009 @ 11:33am

"Buying a cow like that I think is bullshit. I think it's insulting -- the idea that people are so simple that something like that will influence the case."

My bullshit detector goes off the chart when I read that sort of thing from that sort of person... like a politician saying they trust the voters to make the right choice... Total bullshit... they generally truly believe the exact opposite.
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