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by clavalle 3665 days ago
> one of the first things the rules would have you do is to file a motion to dismiss arguing exactly those points.

Great! How much would getting to that point typically cost a defendant in the case of a fairly obvious bullshit patent?
1 comments
pdabbadabba 3665 days ago
Possibly quite a bit, if you want it done well. And that's a problem. But that has little to do with the point I was making.
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Mithaldu 3665 days ago
Where do the "quite a bit" costs come from then, if they don't come from the arcana?
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pdabbadabba 3665 days ago
Not really. They usually come from the fact that legal services are just exceptionally expensive. This, in turn, is largely driven by the fact that, for companies with a lot of money and a lot at stake, legal services are also exceptionally valuable. This drives up rates across the entire industry.

There are other dynamics as well, but I think this one dominates.

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Mithaldu 3665 days ago
I wasn't disagreeing, i was asking earnestly.

Also, you didn't answer the question as asked. If the goal is "file motion telling judge 'patent is not valid' without doing literally anything else", what exactly is the money spent on?

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pdabbadabba 3665 days ago
And I meant to give an earnest answer! If you are the defendant in a relatively simple patent case, where the patent is clearly invalid, the right procedural move is probably a motion to dismiss, which could come right at the beginning of the litigation. But merely drafting that motion will be costly, simply due to the cost of legal services.

EDIT: Of course, it often is not actually clear whether a patent is valid and enforceable or not. This could require evidence from experts about obviousness, prior art, etc. Assembling all of this in a way that is fair to both sides, and presenting it to the court in a way that is clear and compelling, is difficult, as one might expect. So this idealized situation may not be too common.

EDIT 2: In case it's not obvious, this shouldn't be taken as legal advice. Every situation is different, so you should hire yourself a lawyer, and not act based on general ruminations you read on the Internet by people like me. I am not your lawyer.

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Mithaldu 3665 days ago
Ok, i guess you simply underestimated just how little the layman knows. :D

> drafting that motion

I'm going by this particular case, where the patent is obvious and patent bullshit. I would imagine that here a motion would be a form letter that could be handled in less than an hour? (Going by experiences in the german law system where i've seen a form letter to an unpaying client go out, cost and take effect, for half an hour billed.)

And yeah, in other cases it may be less obvious. I'm only talking about the case at hand, and other similar ones, where the patent can be seen to be invalid by anyone with good high school education and above.

Heck, shouldn't it be possible to informally request from the judge to say whether he already sees the patent is bullshit or not?

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