“For years, patent trolls have been the best evidence that pure evil exists. And like most evil entities, they are almost impossible to stop. Even a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision that was highly critical of patent trolls has done little to slow their slimy, reptilian-like existence,” Evan Schuman writes for Computerworld. “But a federal judge on Dec. 19 crafted a novel tactic to curb patent trolls when she slapped a half-million-dollar bill on the lawyers and said that they were personally responsible for paying it, not their client. This could truly be a game-changer.”
“This unusual decision could make lawyers hesitate to take patent trolls as clients,” Schuman writes. “Part of the patent-troll economic model is based on lawyers taking a contingency fee, meaning that they take a percentage of whatever money is extracted from victims rather than being paid an hourly fee. This makes the lawyers more of a partner than a traditional contractor, which factored into the judge’s decision. ”
“The ruling may make lawyers say forget about contingency fees; we want upfront hourly fees. And patent trolls, unwilling or unable to do that, may forgo pursuing the most tenuous lawsuits,” Schuman writes. “As a result, the patent-troll business model starts to crumble.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote proves that even a wooden puppet can find a nut on the rare occasion!
Hopefully, more judges do exactly the same thing and do their part to preventing frivolous fishing expeditions and reducing the unnecessary burdens beset upon their courts!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Sparkles” for the heads up.]