Patent Troll VirnetX Awarded $626M In Damages From Apple (arstechnica.com)

Tackhead writes: Having won a $200M judgement against Microsoft in 2010, lost a $258M appeal against Cisco in 2013, and having beaten Apple for $368M in 2012, only to see the verdict overturned in 2014, patent troll VirnetX is back in the news, having been awarded $626M in damages arising from the 2012 Facetime patent infringement case against Apple.

Comments

East Texas patent troll capitol of america ..

[tetraverse]

'East Texas is known for its Piney Woods, Caddo Lake, maybe for sweet potatoes. It’s also the patent lawsuit capitol of the country. More patent infringement cases are brought to Eastern District courts than anywhere else. There’s pressure to root out the so-called “patent trolls”.' ref

Re:East Texas patent troll capitol of america ..

[gander666]

Okay, serious now. Why this particular district is so popular for patent trolls? Easy to bought corrupt judges? Or too stupid judge to realize the malicious intent of the troll? Both?

I can answer this, having been through the wringer wrought by a patent troll.

• It has the appropriate US district court presence. This is pretty important, as patent infringement cases are brought to a US district court.
• It is an area that has a mediocre pool of jurors. Not highly educated, not too ignorant, but enough to be dangerous.
• It is really really hard to get to. You fly into College Station and drive hours east, or into Louisiana and drive hours west. Yes, this is part of the patent troll modus operandi. Make it super inconvenient for the players to get to. Look it up in google maps, and see.
• Back to the jurors, the pool is made of people who are at the bottom of the middle class or close to poverty. They view big companies as deceitful, and the bad guys. The patent trolls' lawyers play on this David vs. Goliath, and the jurors love having the power to put the hurt on.

Almost all the major patent toll companies have a small presence in the county, so as to be able to file and force the suit to go through Marshall Texas.

The 12 hours I was deposed was probably the worst 12 hours of my life, and the 30 days of rigorous prep I had to do beforehand was just awful.

Re:Require that patents be defended

[mwvdlee]

Patents were created to benefit the public, not the inventor.
The value of patents is in the sharing of inventions for public use, the cost of patents is a period of protection given to the inventor.
Requiring inventions to be used by the patent owner or else allow use by the public seems perfectly in line with the concept of patents.