81–90 of 321 posts
I am an IP litigator, and I have dealt with patent trolls repeatedly. I have taken these kinds of cases pro bono in the past for small companies (including through the EFF attorney referral list, https://www.eff.org/pages/legal-assistance ), and I know that others have as well. There are definitely low-cost and pro bono (free) options out there for very small businesses. The EFF attorney referral list is a good place…
You have to talk to a lawyer. No one other than a IP attorney experienced in dealing with patent trolls will be able to give you accurate advice on this. Also you should add "[ask HN]" to the beginning of your post. edit: A good way to find a lawyer is to talk to good lawyers you have worked with in the past. They will not be able to help you themself if they practice in a different area, but will likely have referra…
A good way to find a lawyer is to talk to good lawyers you have worked with in the past. I.e. none for me. Is it that common to have worked with lawyers then? I honestly wouldn't know how to find a good lawyer. I don't even think I know anyone in person who ever needed a lawyer (not sure - it's not something which comes up often in conversations).
You’ll be using these consultations to learn the area and evaluate who you are dealing with, their style/approach, and level of competence. Ask a lot of questions.
Things like 1) do they personally have experience with cases like this? 2) how did those cases end? 3) can they provide references? (If they start saying ‘no because attorney client priviledge’ they are generally bullshitting you. Don’t fall for it. Run fast the other way.) 4) which legal principles are in play in your case, and what are the risks or advantages you have?
Then do your independent research on #4 so you can evaluate yourself what is going on. Figure on this taking a week of solid work.
Most lawyers will provide consultations for free as part of their public service obligations under the bar rules in many states. Some won’t. I haven’t had any luck with the ones who charge for consultations, and have had in some cases terrible advice (like just flat wrong in black and white areas of the law), that cost me major money when I relied on it.
I've been through similar situations. The "find a lawyer" comments are less than helpful, since you probably don't know where to begin and most lawyers will happily take your money without necessarily having an expedient path to resolution for a small one-person company. So here's what you do: Write to each of your competitors, explain the situation and ask for a referral to their lawyers. You'd be surprised how many…
Like if you set up a limited liability company that owns the code that's allegedly infringing on the patent, that then licenses out the offending code to you. But you structure the actual company as something you're buying a infringing service for a nominal fee under an SLA.
If that shell company has no assets, and you publicise that to the troll, that would be a major disincentive to actually suing you.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's the risk here? That they would purposefully send you to a malicious lawyer? That seems kind of unlikely. Especially if the patent troll has also sued them
The risk, as I see it, is multi-fold: - There's definitely no privilege with a competitor. The only people you should provide ANY detail or discussion on any of this are your attorneys. Full stop. That includes this post and discussion. - You signal to your competitors the very weak and vulnerable position you're in. Many will be happy to dance on your grave... - Business can be absolutely ruthless. I wouldn't put it…
I've been through similar situations. The "find a lawyer" comments are less than helpful, since you probably don't know where to begin and most lawyers will happily take your money without necessarily having an expedient path to resolution for a small one-person company. So here's what you do: Write to each of your competitors, explain the situation and ask for a referral to their lawyers. You'd be surprised how many…
I understand how 'find a lawyer' is less than helpful but isn't your advice just 'find a lawyer ... that your competitors suggest'. Competitors who by default do not have your best interests in mind. Is there any real difference / likelihood of a good outcome there? Ultimately I see little difference in the potential of "most lawyers will happily take your money without necessarily having an expedient path to resolut…
I suspect this will start to hurt US capitalism. who wants to start a company only to get sued at every turn.
You have to talk to a lawyer. No one other than a IP attorney experienced in dealing with patent trolls will be able to give you accurate advice on this. Also you should add "[ask HN]" to the beginning of your post. edit: A good way to find a lawyer is to talk to good lawyers you have worked with in the past. They will not be able to help you themself if they practice in a different area, but will likely have referra…
I haven't had any luck with this approach. In some cases, the good-lawyer-you-know will respect the intellect of a lawyer from another firm that has a specialty in IP law. And then the referral will get passed down to an associate partner who is just overseeing the work of junior lawyers. In that scenario, the referral from the good-lawyer-you-know had no real value. The other scenario is that the good-lawyer-you-kno…
Finding the 5% that are competent is harder than it looks.
And the hourly rate and/or physical location of said lawyer bares no correlation to competence level.
And once you find that person they usually get scooped up and become GC for some VC funded startup or whatever because word travels.
I've been through similar situations. The "find a lawyer" comments are less than helpful, since you probably don't know where to begin and most lawyers will happily take your money without necessarily having an expedient path to resolution for a small one-person company. So here's what you do: Write to each of your competitors, explain the situation and ask for a referral to their lawyers. You'd be surprised how many…
I understand how 'find a lawyer' is less than helpful but isn't your advice just 'find a lawyer ... that your competitors suggest'. Competitors who by default do not have your best interests in mind. Is there any real difference / likelihood of a good outcome there? Ultimately I see little difference in the potential of "most lawyers will happily take your money without necessarily having an expedient path to resolut…
> Competitors who by default do not have your best interests in mind.
FWIW ‘competitors’ are not enemies or out to sink you in all but the most extreme cases. Two things that are definitely a bigger danger to a small startup are: yourself, and patent trolls.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's the risk here? That they would purposefully send you to a malicious lawyer? That seems kind of unlikely. Especially if the patent troll has also sued them
The risk, as I see it, is multi-fold: - There's definitely no privilege with a competitor. The only people you should provide ANY detail or discussion on any of this are your attorneys. Full stop. That includes this post and discussion. - You signal to your competitors the very weak and vulnerable position you're in. Many will be happy to dance on your grave... - Business can be absolutely ruthless. I wouldn't put it…
Telling a competitor that you are being sued by a patent troll does not impair confidentiality. And if they are a true competitor, it is very likely that they have also been sued by the patent troll, or are next on the list, and may join in multi-party litigation against the troll.
You signal to your competitors the very weak and vulnerable position you're in.
Maybe in your particular industry or geographic niche its dog-eat-dog.But especially outside of tech, most companies will band together against outsider threats.
I wouldn't put it past some Machiavellian type competitor to tip off the troll to let the troll take you out for them
The only way this would happen without backfiring on the plotter is if they were already targeted by the troll and lost.
Businesses aren't as ruthless as you seem to think they are. They are run by real people, and they and act like people. The kind of ruthlessness you describe is something you see at the largest levels (i.e., Amazon and Apple) where sociopathy is a virtue rather than a hindrance, and even those companies will band together against patent trolls.