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East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

arstechnica.com

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Re: East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

#3
Heh. More evidence for something I've been hearing for a while, the mass quantities of patent lawsuits in this "rocket docket" has had the side effect of educating everyone in it about this area of law, and it's getting harder to win a bad case.

Re: East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

#5
post #3

Heh. More evidence for something I've been hearing for a while, the mass quantities of patent lawsuits in this "rocket docket" has had the side effect of educating everyone in it about this area of law, and it's getting harder to win a bad case.

All of the software patent trolls are pretty much going to be out of business in the next 12 - 18 months. It costs millions of dollars to run these operations, and most of them haven't been making any income for 2+ years now. All the smart trolls have moved on to trolling PTAB, and the dumb ones are just holding out hope that they either hit one last jackpot or else find some other way to monetize their portfolio.

Re: East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

#6
Is it normal in other areas of the law for the plaintiff to be able to choose the (extremely favorable) district and judge for the case? Cause I can't imagine this happening in any other area of law, either civil or criminal. It just doesn't seem right, especially when the bias is so clearly observable. IANAL though...

Re: East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

#7

Is it normal in other areas of the law for the plaintiff to be able to choose the (extremely favorable) district and judge for the case? Cause I can't imagine this happening in any other area of law, either civil or criminal. It just doesn't seem right, especially when the bias is so clearly observable. IANAL though...

Nearly all aesbestos class action litigation is filed in Oakland --- it is perceived to have a favorable jury pool and you can always find a dockworker in Oakland who may have had contact. Forum shopping is so popular that it has a name: "forum shopping."

Re: East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

#8

Is it normal in other areas of the law for the plaintiff to be able to choose the (extremely favorable) district and judge for the case? Cause I can't imagine this happening in any other area of law, either civil or criminal. It just doesn't seem right, especially when the bias is so clearly observable. IANAL though...

It certainly can happen in certain other areas of the law. Recent example: the NFL filed in new York to prevent Tom Brady from filing in MN on the whole deflategate punishment case to try and avoid Brady getting a judge who consistently rules for the player in such cases.

Re: East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

#9
post #5
post #3

Heh. More evidence for something I've been hearing for a while, the mass quantities of patent lawsuits in this "rocket docket" has had the side effect of educating everyone in it about this area of law, and it's getting harder to win a bad case.

All of the software patent trolls are pretty much going to be out of business in the next 12 - 18 months. It costs millions of dollars to run these operations, and most of them haven't been making any income for 2+ years now. All the smart trolls have moved on to trolling PTAB, and the dumb ones are just holding out hope that they either hit one last jackpot or else find some other way to monetize their portfolio.

What does "trolling PTAB" mean?

Re: East Texas judge throws out 168 patent cases

#10
post #7

Is it normal in other areas of the law for the plaintiff to be able to choose the (extremely favorable) district and judge for the case? Cause I can't imagine this happening in any other area of law, either civil or criminal. It just doesn't seem right, especially when the bias is so clearly observable. IANAL though...

Nearly all aesbestos class action litigation is filed in Oakland --- it is perceived to have a favorable jury pool and you can always find a dockworker in Oakland who may have had contact. Forum shopping is so popular that it has a name: "forum shopping."

New York too
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