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Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice 

This web log is devoted to practice in the Eastern District of Texas, with special emphasis on patent litigation.
Post Frequency: 5.6/day Last Entry: March 28, 2011 at 11:53:28 Recent Entries: 587
Go to Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice, find other Federal Judiciary blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Law Office Management: Lawyer v. Airline Seat
Posted on April 26, 2009If your practice is like mine, you spend a fair amount of time in airline seats going to and from meetings, seminars, and various other events. I don't mind flying at all - but being bent over in airline seats...
Marshall Juries Split on a Pair of Patent Cases
Posted on April 24, 2009As I wrote a few days ago, it's been a busy couple of weeks for the court in Marshall, where Judge Everingham has been trying a case downstairs and Judge Ward upstairs, First across the finish line was Opti v....
Judgment entered (again) in Paice v. Toyota - ongoing royalty set at 1/4-1/2%
Posted on April 21, 2009In December 2005 a Marshall jury found for plaintiff Paice in its case against Toyota and awarded approximately $4 million (I was there for closing arguments and recall the plaintiff asking for around $32 million, for what that's worth). In...
CSIRO settles during trial
Posted on April 20, 2009On day 6 of trial, the CSIRO case (CSIRO v. Buffalo et al and Microsoft v. CSIRO). That leaves only two patent cases being tried in the district as we speak, and both are in Marshall, where the taxpayers are...
Motion to Bifurcate and Stay Defendants' Non-Patent Counterclaims Denied
Posted on April 20, 2009j2 Global Communications Inc v. Captaris Inc (6-08-cv-00262) (E.D. Tex. April 16, 2009) Judge: John D. Love Holding: Motion to Bifurcate and Stay Non-Patent Counterclaims DENIED without prejudice Interesting case last week from Judge Love on bifurcation in a patent...
Homer Reynolds III (1961-2009)
Posted on April 20, 2009I am sorry to report the untimely death of one of our partners Homer Reynolds III, who passed away at his ranch in Oklahoma recently. In addition to being a partner in Siebman, Reynolds, Burg, Phillips & Smith, LLP, Homer...
Law Office Management: Ruminations on Briefcases and Office Chairs
Posted on April 18, 2009For readers interested in my ongoing search for the perfect briefcase and discovery of the benefits of a decent office chair, both of significant daily relevance when trying to run a law office efficiently, I have posts on both on...
2009 so far...
Posted on April 17, 2009I was updating my list of recent patent verdicts this afternoon and noticed something noteworthy. Of the five or so patent cases that have reached trial in the Eastern District since the beginning of the year, only one resulted in...
Post-trial Motions Resolved in Mass v. Ergotron
Posted on April 17, 2009Mass Engineered Design, Inc. v. Ergotron, Inc., 2:06cv00272 (E.D. Tex. April 17, 2009) Judge: Leonard Davis Holding: Request for a Permanent Injunction or Ongoing Royalties DENIED; JMOL & motion for new trial DENIED; Motion for post-trial relief granted and requests...
Judge Ward grants JMOL for defendants at close of patent plaintiff's case
Posted on April 13, 2009Trial started in Paradox v. ADT et al in Judge T. John Ward's court in Marshall last Monday. Three days later, when the plaintiff rested Judge Ward granted the defendants' motions for judgment as a matter of law. (Three he...
Trial begins in CSIRO v. Buffalo, et al.
Posted on April 13, 2009A jury was empaneled last week in Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation v. Buffalo Technology (USA), Inc et al 6:06-cv-324 in Judge Davis' court in Tyler, and after a flurry of pretrial activity, evidence was set to start today...
Judgment as a matter of law granted on joint infringement issue
Posted on April 03, 2009Golden Hour Data Systems, Inc. v. emsCharts, Inc. et al, 2:06-cv-381 (April 3, 2009) Judge Ward. This is the case in which Judge Ward found the patent unenforceable due to inequitable conduct two weeks ago, following entry of the jury...
No broad rule of exclusion under Bilski, thus fact issues precluded judgment on the pleadings
Posted on April 03, 2009Versata Software, Inc. et al v. Sun Microsystems, Inc., 2:06-cv-00358 (E.D. Tex., March 31, 2009) Judge: T. John Ward Holding: Defendant's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings DENIED This one's unpublished for the moment, but will no doubt be soon,...
Limitations in Licensing Agreements Did Not Constitute Patent Misuse
Posted on April 03, 2009Hearing Components, Inc. v. Shure, Inc., 2009 WL 815526(E.D.Tex. Mar 26, 2009) (NO. 9:07-CV-104) Judge: Ron Clark Judge Clark recently conducted a bench trial on the defendant's claims of laches and patent misuse in this case. While he denied the...
Federal Circuit Denies Mandamus in In re Telular
Posted on April 03, 2009September 10, 2008 may go down in Eastern District lore as an important date. Until today it was known, if at all, as the date that the district court denied the motion to transfer in what would become known as...
2009 ED Tex Bench/Bar Conference: Save The Date
Posted on April 02, 2009The 12th Annual Bench/Bar Conference for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas will be held on Thursday and Friday October 15 - 16, 2009 at the Westin Stonebriar Hotel in Frisco, Texas. Further details will be...
New officemate
Posted on April 01, 2009Brought two of my boys to the office yesterday after school, and while Grayson (9) was content to just borrow an office to play on his laptop for a couple of hours, Parker (6) decided that the play room was...
Deal Reportedly Struck on Many Patent Reform Act Provisions, Including Venue
Posted on March 31, 2009I just learned that there has apparently been a compromise struck on major parts of the patent reform act currently pending in Congress, which will result in a new manager's bill on the Senate side in the next few days....
Thermapure patent trial ends - sort of
Posted on March 26, 2009On March 19 the jury in the Thermapure v. Water Drying Out Corp case in Judge Everingham's court in Marshall concluded their deliberations with a verdict that was unanimous except for the damages question, i.e. it found infringement, not willful,...
General Order 09-07 amending local rules
Posted on March 26, 2009Judge Folsom signed General Order 090-07 today, which makes some minor additional changes to the local rules based on comments received since the main rules amendment package was implemented in G.O. 09-06. Of interest to practitioners, the most important question...
Source of Marshall Patent Docket?
Posted on March 25, 2009I swear I did not stage this photo. I was visiting the Marshall Public Library with my three boys the other day (see photo at right for proof) and there on the table in the foyer was a copy of...
Sweet Home Chicago ... Baby, Didn't You Want To Go?
Posted on March 25, 2009Come on Oh baby don't you wanna go Back to that same old place Sweet home Chicago Jackson v. Intel Corporation (2-08-cv-00154) (E.D. Tex. March 19, 2009) Judge; T. John Ward Holding: Motion to Transfer GRANTED. Shades of Jake and...
"... Some Days You're the Bug" - Golden Hour v. EMSCharts verdict hits the inequitable conduct windshield
Posted on March 24, 2009Some days you're the windshield. Some days you're the bug. Hit it, Mark. Dire Straits said it best in "The Bug" - one of the better cuts from my favorite album from law school days. Golden Hour Data Systems was...
Patent Case Ends With Post-Jury Selection Summary Judgment
Posted on March 17, 2009Fenner v. Microsoft, et al., 6:07cv8 Judge: Leonard Davis Some cases end with a bang - some with a whimper. This one is probably closer to the latter. This is a patent case brought by the plaintiff against defendants Nintendo...
"Art at Work": March/April 2009 featured artist Bob Metzger
Posted on March 11, 2009Our featured artist for the Art at Work program for March and April is Bob Metzger of Marshall, who can reached at smanor@shreve.net. Bob is a retired engineer and comes to Marshall from Michigan. He works from his studio in...
ED Tex Bar Association president
Posted on March 10, 2009ED Tex Bar Association president Larry Phillips of Sherman, who puts the P in SRBPS, but really prefers to be associated with the letter R, announced that in an effort to stay out of the way of hurricanes this year...
Patent Verdict Cut by 2/3 Postverdict
Posted on March 10, 2009Hearing Components, Inc v. Shure, Inc (9-07-cv-00104) (E.D. Tex. March 6, 2009)Judge Clark. The jury in this case returned a verdict for the plaintiff and awarded damages of $4.622 million on January 21 in Judge Clark's court. Defendant Shure filed...
No, not that do-over.
Posted on February 26, 2009Saffran, M.D., Ph.D., v. Johnson & Johnson et al, (2-07-cv-00451) (E.D. Tex. Feb. 24, 2009)Judge: T. John WardOn Tuesday Judge Ward granted the plaintiff's motion to strike the defendant's invalidity contentions, but granted leave to submit new contentions that comply...
"Good Cause" Not Shown for Transfer to Michigan
Posted on February 25, 2009MHL TEK, LLC v. Nissan Motor Co. et al (2-07-cv-00289) (E.D. Tex. Feb. 23, 2009)Judge: T. John WardIn this case Judge Ward was asked to reconsider his decision of September 10, 2008 (pre VW Tech) denying the defendants' motion to...
j2 II Leaves Spacedock
Posted on February 24, 2009j2 Global Communications Inc v. Protus IP Solutions Inc (6-08-cv-00211) (E.D. Tex. Feb. 20, 2009)Judge: John LoveWell, it may not be as extensive as the refit the starship Enterprise is set to undergo before its return to the big screen...
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French Court Finds Favorable Lease To Mosque Violates Church-State Limits
In France, the Marseille administrative court on Tuesday ordered r...
Mount Laurel Township v. MiPro Homes Petition Sent to United States Supreme Court
As a follow up to previous posts regarding the case of Mount Laure...
Cramer Hill eminent domain case reversed and remanded to trial court
In a reported case, Cramer Hill Residents Association v.&nbs...
John Ritter’s Family Takes $67 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit to Court
Jury selection in the wrongful death of actor John Ritter began in...
Court Rules Zoning Change Inconsistent Township Master Plan
A Township Council amended its zoning ordinance to prohibit retail...
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How do i go bout geting a free laywer to sue the durham police department for drug raids and nothing is found?they have been in my house 4 or 5 times seems like every 4 months or so and breaking down my door tearing up m
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Is a child fathered out of wedlock by an American diplomat to a foreign women on foreign soil entitled to US Citizenship by jus sanguinis?
This is a very tough situation your friend is in. It is difficult to know the ex...
He is a very smart man who is always looking for ways around things. The judge granted our divorce for December 12,2007, and my ex-husband told me that he just got married just before Thanksgiving. He is a student at Cal
i can answer that for you. with all due respect. better your own life just as i ...
Did I harass someone?
Oh, yes. This can be taken in as so many things, especially since you had testif...
How can I get my parents away from my bulling brother?
First of all, if you are paying your lawyer, you should not be on the back burne...

How do i go bout geting a free laywer to sue the durham police department for drug raids and nothing is found?they have been in my house 4 or 5 times seems like every 4 months or so and breaking down my door tearing up m
They need a warrant to get into your house...if they never showed you one...you ...
Is a child fathered out of wedlock by an American diplomat to a foreign women on foreign soil entitled to US Citizenship by jus sanguinis?
This is a very tough situation your friend is in. It is difficult to know the ex...
He is a very smart man who is always looking for ways around things. The judge granted our divorce for December 12,2007, and my ex-husband told me that he just got married just before Thanksgiving. He is a student at Cal
i can answer that for you. with all due respect. better your own life just as i ...
Did I harass someone?
Oh, yes. This can be taken in as so many things, especially since you had testif...
How can I get my parents away from my bulling brother?
First of all, if you are paying your lawyer, you should not be on the back burne...








