“I’m sure you realize the asymmetry in the financial resources of our respective companies when you say: ‘We will both just end up paying a lot of lawyers a lot of money.’” [TheVerge.com]
Posts tagged as:
patent litigation
- New law grads and others, come work for liberty at the Cato Institute’s legal associate program [Ilya Shapiro]
- Lawsuit against United Nations seeks compensation for mass cholera outbreak in Haiti [Kristen Boon, Opinio Juris]
- “Parents Sue Energy Drink After Girl’s Death” [NBC Washington; Hagerstown, Md.] “The New York Times Reveals That 18 Servings of an Energy Drink Might Be Excessive” [Jacob Sullum]
- Claim: There is no explosion of patent litigation [Adam Mossoff, Truth on the Market, and further]
- “After Inmates Sue for Dental Floss, Jailers Explain the Security Risk” [ABA Journal, earlier]
- Court: First Amendment protects right of “The Bachelor” producers to consider contestants’ race [Volokh, earlier]
- From Florida tobacco litigation to an, um, interesting higher-education startup [Inside Higher Ed, h/t Overlawyered commenter Jeff H.]
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- “The patent, used as a sword” [NY Times, Flowing Data]
- Default judgment over 528 songs against contumacious defendant: “Website ordered to pay $6.6 million for posting song lyrics” [NLJ]
- “Monsanto Seed Patent Case Gets U.S. Supreme Court Review” [Bloomberg Business Week]
- New book tells story of Ira Arnstein, whose frivolous suits against Cole Porter, Irving Berlin et al set important precedent [WSJ]
- “Do it ‘on the Internet,’ get a patent, sue an industry — it still works” [Joe Mullin, Ars Technica]
- “Court rules book scanning is fair use, suggesting Google Books victory” [Timothy Lee, ArsTechnica]
- Nortel portfolio now used for offense: “How Apple and Microsoft Armed 4,000 Patent Warheads” [Wired]
- Via Bill Childs: “This shows up in Google News despite fact that it’s lawyer advertising.” [TheDenverChannel.com] At “public interest watchdog” FairWarning.org, who contributed this article about Canadian asbestos controversies? Byline credits a law firm;
- Another Bloomberg crackdown in NYC: gender-differential pricing in haircuts and other services [Mark Perry]
- A “Pro-Business Regulation Push” from Obama White House? Oh, Bloomberg Business Week, sometimes you can be so droll [Future of Capitalism]
- “Trial Lawyers’ Support of Republican Candidates Yields Less Than Stellar Results” [Morgan Smith, NY Times; Examiner editorial; more from TLRPac on Texas election results]
- “Community banks to Congress: you’re crushing us” [Kevin Funnell]
- If an emergency injunction could stop one reality-TV show, why couldn’t it stop them all? [Hollywood Reporter]
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Competition through patent suits, circa 1857: I’ve got a new post at Cato on how loser-pays works to improve the general fairness of an inevitably imperfect litigation system.
- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who crusades against distracted driving, worsens the problem by honking at motorists he sees using phones [WTOP via Mike Riggs, Reason] Expensive new mandate for back-up cameras in cars may be delayed until after election [Ira Stoll and more, Ann Althouse]
- With reporter Lee Stranahan, the late Andrew Breitbart shone an investigative spotlight on the USDA’s billion-dollar settlement with lawyers representing black farmers, and there was indeed much to investigate [Big Government]
- Substance on floor may have been own baby oil: “Oiled Stripper Loses Slip and Fall Lawsuit” [Erik Magraken; B.C., Canada; related on-the-job pole-dance injuries here and here]
- Honeywell’s new thermostat design deserves high marks, its patent litigation maybe not so much [Farhad Manjoo, Slate]
- Socialism takes too many evenings: @ChadwickMatlin live-tweets Park Slope Food Co-op meeting [The Awl]
- Auto bailout a success? Really? [Mickey Kaus, Todd Zywicki, Ted Frank, Prof. Bainbridge]
- Way to go Maryland: proud of my state for enacting law recognizing same-sex marriage, signed by Gov. O’Malley yesterday [WaPo]
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- Melissa Kite, columnist with Britain’s Spectator, writes about her low-speed car crash and its aftermath [first, second, third, fourth]
- NYT’s Nocera lauds Keystone pipeline, gets called “global warming denier” [NYTimes] More about foundations’ campaign to throttle Alberta tar sands [Coyote] Regulations mandating insurance “disclosures” provide another way for climate change activists to stir the pot [Insurance and Technology]
- “Cop spends weeks to trick an 18-year-old into possession and sale of a gram of pot” [Frauenfelder, BB]
- Federal Circuit model order, pilot program could show way to rein in patent e-discovery [Inside Counsel, Corporate Counsel] December Congressional hearing on discovery costs [Lawyers for Civil Justice]
- Trial lawyer group working with Senate campaigns in North Dakota, Nevada, Wisconsin, Hawaii [Rob Port via LNL] President of Houston Trial Lawyers Association makes U.S. Senate bid [Chron]
- Panel selection: “Jury strikes matter” [Ron Miller, Maryland Injury]
- Law-world summaries/Seventeen syllables long/@legal_haiku (& for a similar treatment of high court cases, check out @SupremeHaiku)
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- “The real cost of patent trolls” [Brad Feld, PoL on BU study] Survey finds patent litigation booming [Corporate Counsel, Reynolds Holding/Reuters] Company claiming patent on wi-fi-in-stores unlikely to sue retail customers “at this stage” [Patent Examiner] Retrospective on crustless-sandwich case [Peter Smith/Good, earlier]
- Louisiana federal court holds severe obesity to be disability under ADA [Sam Bagenstos, related]
- Florida: many cops remain on job despite evidence linking them to crimes [Balko on Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigation]
- “FDA Regulation Could Doom Cigar Shops” [Jacob Sullum]
- Ted Frank vs. Brian Fitzpatrick on class action fees [PoL, David Lat on Federalist Society panel]
- Orange County keeps mum about partnerships it’s entered with plaintiff’s attorneys Robinson, Calcagnie and Thomas Girardi [Kim Stone, Fox & Hounds] Maybe like “private attorney generals”? Fannie/Freddie genre of government-sponsored enterprises called “monstrous moral hybrids” [Mark Calabria, Cato]
- Posner: lawyers appeared more likely to run junk-fax suit for own interests than clients’ [Beck, Trask (Creative Montessori Learning Centers v. Ashford Gear LLC)]
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A pretty graphic depicting a not-so-pretty situation [Design Language News; more, FlowingData] Related: “When Patents Attack,” NPR; Will Wilkinson, “Patents Against Prosperity”, The Economist; “Good Defensive Patents Are Bad Patents,” Julian Sanchez.
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- Will they get group discounts on lawyers? Groupon vs. MobGob patent brawl [TechCrunch]
- Why American courts should sometimes recognize Islamic law [series of Eugene Volokh posts]
- No, it’s not a “public health issue”: “The Case Against Motorcycle Helmet Laws” [Steve Chapman, syndicated/RCP]
- Failed system of justice on some Indian reservations [McClelland, Mother Jones]
- Ten years ago: Morgan Lewis & Bockius handed mlb.com domain over to its client Major League Baseball [Ross Davies, SSRN]
- City of Boston adds insult to injury after employee runs into building [TJIC, Popehat]
- Citing fans’ drug use, feds seek forfeiture of farm used for Grateful Dead tribute concerts [Greenfield]
- Johann Sebastian Bach, serial copyright violator [Cavanaugh, Reason]
“Knowing why and how startups can be sued into oblivion will give you a new appreciation for the problems in the patent system.” [Sawyer at Feld Thoughts via Pete Warden]
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Explaining the role of the nation’s most famous venue for patent litigation [Brad Feld, Tech Review]
Farhad Manjoo at Slate thinks the tech firm’s suits against competitors illustrate why “the patent system is in desperate need of reform”. And the New York Times “Bits” ran a chart last week showing the spaghetti-like tangle lawsuits among various mobile phone makers. More: Ryan Kim, San Francisco Chronicle.
- “Toyota Recall: Scandal, Media Circus, and Stupid Drivers” [Dushane, Car & Driver via Prof. Bainbridge] Some parallels with Audi sudden-acceleration panic [Michael Fumento, who also questions recent numbers] More: Mike Allen, Popular Mechanics via Instapundit (“why widespread theories about electrical throttle problems and electromagnetic interference are misguided”); and Fumento on braking capacity.
- Overly hot sandwich caused $2 million worth of damages, he says, though it’s true he didn’t seek immediate medical attention [Lowering the Bar, earlier]
- Rick Esenberg on judicial recusal wars in Wisconsin and nationally [Point of Law first and second posts] In Circle of Greed, lawyer/felon Lerach flings recusal issue against late father of Carly Fiorina [Gerstein, Politico; our earlier Lerach coverage]
- And more: Notwithstanding earlier denials, Lerach did lobby President Clinton to veto securities litigation reform act [Gerstein, Politico]
- Claim by Connecticut AG and Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal: lawsuits he files “actually create jobs” [Wood, PoL]
- Setback for prolific patent litigant Bender [Zura via Joe Mullin, related]
- Following complaints by traditional video store competitors, prosecutor threatens criminal charges unless DVD rental kiosks remove R- and even PG-rated films [Indianapolis Star via Indiana Law Blog]
- Lawyers send clients to chiropractor, he sends clients to lawyers, circle of life continues [Louisville Courier-Journal via Legal Blog Watch]
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Per Joe Mullin, many of the plaintiffs appear to be attorneys. [Justin Gray, Gray on Claims; earlier here and here] [Corrected Wed. evening: Mullin says in email he initially overestimated the number of suits filed directly on attorneys' behalf.]
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- Already-infamous Coakley-for-Senate rape-ad mailer: did they really line up all those photo permissions? [Lopez, NRO] Earlier on photo-permissions legal exposures here, here, here, here, here, here, here, etc.
- “Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Peyton Thomas: Blame the Libertarians!” [Balko, earlier]
- Georgetown lawprof Robin West takes such a rude tone with homeschoolers, it’s enough to make you wonder who brought her up [Common Room, Izzy Lyman/Big Journalism, "The Harms of Homeschooling" (PDF)] Parents charged with child endangerment for homeschooling their kids without submitting lesson plans [Albany Times-Union]
- Videogames and the ADA: “Sony Launches Defense to Gamer’s Equal Access Suit” [OnPoint News, earlier]
- Regulations may spell end for independent New England fishermen [AP/MSNBC, earlier]
- Veteran California pol Willie Brown criticizes civil service entrenchment [Kaus] Government employment has its privileges [Stuart Greenhut, Reason]
- New Jersey appeals court reverses $260K award over student’s fatal window fall at Fairleigh Dickinson U. [Star-Ledger]
- Georgia federal judge orders plaintiff to pay $268K costs of discovery for stretching patent claims [Fulton County Daily Report]
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“Phoenix Media/Communications, which owns The Boston Phoenix and other local alternative weeklies and websites, is suing popular social networking site Facebook for allegedly violating a patent related to setting up online personal profile pages.” [Boston Globe]
- Speech-curbing proposals continue to get polite academic reception: NYU’s Jeremy Waldron, big advocate of laws to curb “hate speech”, delivered Holmes Lectures at Harvard this past week [HLS, schedule]
- Lawsuit over collectible baseball hit into stands by Phillies’ Ryan Howard, his 200th career homer [Howard Wasserman, PrawfsBlawg; NJLRA]
- Orchid-importer prosecution a poster case for the evils of overcriminalization? Maybe not [Ken at Popehat]
- Texas State Fair and city of Dallas don’t have to allow evangelist to distribute religious tracts inside the fair, judge rules after three years [Dallas Observer blog]
- Drug maker: FDA’s curbs on truthful promotion of off-label uses impair our First Amendment speech rights [Beck and Herrmann and more, Point of Law and more]
- Did plaintiff Eolas Technologies go to unusual lengths to ensure Eastern District of Texas venue for its patent litigation? [Joe Mullin, IP Law and Business via Alison Frankel, AmLaw]
- Update: “Lesbian Denied Infertility Treatment Settles Lawsuit” [San Diego 6, earlier]
- Even in the Ninth Circuit, “psychological injury resulting from a legitimate personnel action” is not compensable [Volokh]
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