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Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

arstechnica.com

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Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#11

Post by drone »

geuis wrote: post #5

Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? Just because someone has the title "judge" doesn't give them untouchable super powers. There's a giant reek of illegality coming from that area and someone needs to look under the covers. My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insider…

> I'm not speaking out of my ass either. I've lived in Texas. I have family there now.

Yes, you are. And you're a bigot to boot.

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#12

Post by dctoedt »

sillysaurus2 wrote: post #9
dctoedt wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? ... My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. Careful there. Unless you've got more than a hypothesis, what you're saying borders on the libelous. (Not that a…

This is the definition of "What the fuck." Why should he be careful about what he says on a forum, just because he's talking about a judge? He didn't threaten anybody.

> Why should he be careful about what he says on a forum? He didn't threaten anybody.

Like it or not, libel laws apply on-line as much as anywhere. As just one example, in 2006 a Florida woman won an $11 million verdict against a Louisiana woman who had called her a crook, a con artist, and a fraud in an on-line forum [1]. Do a Google search for "libel on-line" and you'll see lots of ads for lawyers hoping to be hired to bring a lawsuit for libel.

Incidentally, accusations like those of the GP are known as "libel per se." [2]

Another thing to consider: If you make an arguably-libelous statement on-line about a foreign citizen, that person might sue you in a "libel tourism" destination such as the UK, which until earlier this year was (and to a certain extent still is) much more friendly to libel plaintiffs than is the U.S. (Fortunately for U.S. citizens, U.S. law severely limits the enforceability in U.S. courts of a foreign libel-tourism judgment [3].)

[1] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-intern...

[2] http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/libel+per+se

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libel_tourism#United_States

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#13

Post by ngoldbaum »

option_greek wrote: post #10
dctoedt wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? ... My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. Careful there. Unless you've got more than a hypothesis, what you're saying borders on the libelous. (Not that a…

"The judge is constrained by long-established rules. Article III of the U.S. Constitution limits the power of the federal courts to actual cases and controversies." Even if that was the case, assuming nothing bad is going on, there has to be a reason all these cases end up there. It's too frequent to be a coincidence.

The wikipedia article for the Eastern district Federal court gives a good summary without appealing to anything nefarious:

  Most recently, the Eastern District of Texas has seen an increase in the number of
  cases filed relating to patent infringement. This District has experienced an increase 
  in the number of patent cases filed and tried, notably in the courts of Judge T. John 
  Ward in the Marshall Division, Judge Leonard Davis in the Tyler Division, and Judge 
  David Folsom in the Texarkana Division. Perhaps because the district has a set of 
  local rules for patent cases and relatively fast trial settings, patent plaintiffs 
  have flocked to this small venue. In addition the proximity to larger cities (such 
  as Dallas and Houston) along with an aging jury pool interested in protecting 
  property rights, may attract patent cases to Marshall, Tyler, and Texarkana. [1]
Basically, the judges tend to be friendly to plaintiffs (as is their right as duly appointed federal judges) and the jury pool tend to be in favor of patents and strong property rights.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_fo...

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#14

Post by nsxwolf »

geuis wrote: post #5

Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? Just because someone has the title "judge" doesn't give them untouchable super powers. There's a giant reek of illegality coming from that area and someone needs to look under the covers. My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insider…

Religious bigotry == instant downvote. Go back to Slashdot.

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#15

Post by dctoedt »

option_greek wrote: post #10
dctoedt wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? ... My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. Careful there. Unless you've got more than a hypothesis, what you're saying borders on the libelous. (Not that a…

"The judge is constrained by long-established rules. Article III of the U.S. Constitution limits the power of the federal courts to actual cases and controversies." Even if that was the case, assuming nothing bad is going on, there has to be a reason all these cases end up there. It's too frequent to be a coincidence.

> Even if that was the case, assuming nothing bad is going on, there has to be a reason all these cases end up there. It's too frequent to be a coincidence.

Fifteen-plus years ago the Eastern District of Texas developed a reputation as a good place to litigate patent cases because at the time it was a fast docket (not so much any more, because of all the patent cases being filed there) and the judges there have come to know patent law pretty well, which is welcomed by lawyers for both sides.

In a 2010 article, Stanford law professor Mark Lemley, who is known for his careful statistical analysis of patent cases (and is cited amazingly often by the Supreme Court), noted that the win rate for patent owners in the Eastern District was 40% [1].

In a 2013 article, Lemley concluded that "... the patent sophistication of the jury pool had no statistically significant effect on trial outcomes." [2]

[1] http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/Lemley.pdf

[2] http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2217690, page 177, text accompanying note 24.

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#16

Post by ktr100 »

geuis wrote: post #5

Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? Just because someone has the title "judge" doesn't give them untouchable super powers. There's a giant reek of illegality coming from that area and someone needs to look under the covers. My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insider…

Foresee successfully moved to have the venue changed to Northern Illinois and still settled... I think it's more than the location. It's the system that's broken!

http://www.research-live.com/news/legal/foresee-settles-lods...

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#17

Post by andybak »

benologist wrote: post #6
geuis wrote: post #5

Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? Just because someone has the title "judge" doesn't give them untouchable super powers. There's a giant reek of illegality coming from that area and someone needs to look under the covers. My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insider…

That seems highly unlikely given that Apple etc aren't retarded and would have pursued that theory if they thought it was possible.

This is the worst quality top comment I've seen on HN in a while. I hope it doesn't stay top.

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#18

Post by [deleted] »

sillysaurus2 wrote: post #9
dctoedt wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? ... My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. Careful there. Unless you've got more than a hypothesis, what you're saying borders on the libelous. (Not that a…

This is the definition of "What the fuck." Why should he be careful about what he says on a forum, just because he's talking about a judge? He didn't threaten anybody.

[deleted]

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#19

Post by ajross »

x0054 wrote: post #2

Apple should hire a nation wide law firm to defend any and all apple developers who are sued by Lodsys fore these patents. Instruct the lawfirm to never settle and actively file actions on beheld of each client against Lodsys. It's simple, once they realize that no one will settle with them, they will go away. Now, where on earth is that patent troll bill congress has been promising?

If Apple is "instructing" that firm, then they aren't representing their clients' interests correctly. That sort of relationship is actually very hard to manage in the courts, which is why it's quite rare (and usually limited to true pro bono work by established non-profits).

Re: Judge tosses Apple motion, allows patent troll Lodsys to continue rampage

#20

Post by mistercow »

dctoedt wrote: post #8
geuis wrote: post #5

Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? Just because someone has the title "judge" doesn't give them untouchable super powers. There's a giant reek of illegality coming from that area and someone needs to look under the covers. My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insider…

> Why hasn't anyone addressed the probable criminal activity going on with these handful of judges in this one district of Texas? ... My hypothesis is there's a payoff racket going on. There's a multi level system setup with a few insiders who know how to pay off the local judges to dismiss certain cases. Careful there. Unless you've got more than a hypothesis, what you're saying borders on the libelous. (Not that a…

Don't terms like "probable" and "my hypothesis" pretty obviously make this a statement of opinion, and therefore immune to libel claims?
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