
NYT Complaint Against Lodsys - wrrice
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57808415/NYT-Complaint-Against-Lodsys
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dctoedt
Some background points:

1\. If a patent owner creates an actual "case or controversy," for example by
making an accusation of infringement, then the target of the accusation
doesn't need to sit around wondering when and where it will be sued. It can
instead file its own lawsuit asking for a declaratory judgment. This is what
the NY Times has done.

2\. Tactically, Lodsys might file a motion to transfer the case on grounds
that key witnesses and/or documents would be more conveniently available in
another court, so much so that it should override the NY Times's right to
choose its forum. (Choosing to sue in the home jurisdiction of Lodsys's CEO
was an intriguing move.)

3\. In many cases, the patent owner will try to have a "D-J" (declaratory
judgment) case thrown out, on grounds that supposedly there's no _actual_ case
or controversy because there hasn't been an accusation of infringement. That
seems unlikely here, because the NY Times's complaint quotes the Lodsys letter
as pretty clearly accusing the Times of infringement (see paragraph 13).

4\. The Eastern District of Texas is indeed favored by "NPEs" (aka trolls),
but in part because a couple of the judges there are experienced in patent
cases and run a tight ship. As far as patent-owner win rate, there's been at
least some research suggesting that the Eastern District isn't even in the top
5. [1]

[1] See the Lemley article linked and discussed at
[http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2010/05/patent-litigation-
fo...](http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2010/05/patent-litigation-forum-
shopping.html)

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URSpider94
Well played - the Times can now have their case heard in Illinois, instead of
the infamous East Texas circuit.

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chillax
I'm no good at US law.. So what happended here is that NYT got infringement
notice from Lodsys and then took it directly to the court to have it establish
that NYT does not infringe?

And they want it heard in Chicago, IL, since that is very the sole employee of
Lodsys has residence?

Is the texas court system known for ruling in patent trolls, like Lodsys,
favor?

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colonelxc
To answer your last question, yes, east Texas is known for favoring patent
holders in cases of infringement[1]. It doesn't seem to matter if neither
party actually has a presence in Texas even.

1\. <http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/16280/page1/>

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acron0
Hopefully this will catch on. If NYT wins this round then it sets a good
precedent for the Apple cases.

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shareme
I have a question..

Out of all the websites with supposed infringement, Best Buy, etc why no
targeting of Microsoft?

Given IV's history it does cause some wonder

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mattmanser
Don't MS already have a licence? I thought that was part of the problem, the
big software shops had just ponied up the dough when the patent was owned by
IV or whoever it was.

