New Multiple Defendant Patent Infringement Suit Under the AIA

This was just a matter of time, but a new multi-defendant post AIA patent infringement complaint was filed yesterday afternoon in Tyler. It's Pragmatus Telecom, LLC v The Neiman-Marcus Group, Inc., et.al. (6:11-cv-620). 11 defendants in all. How are they "joined"? Not entirely clear to this author that what is alleged will be enough to keep them together. There is no allegation of "arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences", nor is there any pleading alleging common questions of fact as to all defendants. The only commonality appears to be common infringement of the same patent[s] and the fact that the infringement is allegedly done by use of the same software by all 11 defendants. Enough under the AIA? I don't think so, but time will tell. Stay tuned.....If you can't pull a copy of the complaint from ECF, let us know and we'll email it to you.

When is bill not a bill?

This is easy, when the bill was sent out in error. From the law firm perspective this likely seems like a minor mistake; an agreement was made to do something at no charge for a good client, time on the activity is nonetheless maintained for record keeping purposes, but due to wires getting crossed at the end of the month a bill goes to the client when it shouldn't have.

Again, from the outside lawyer's standpoint, a seemingly minor error, as the client is instructed to ignore the bill and pretend it never received it. But, now, put yourself in the client's shoes and see things from their standpoint. The arrival of the bill apparently triggers a cascade of requirements, filings, recordings, etc., that can't be as simply ignored or disregarded as the outside lawyer might imagine. Call it bureaucracy , needless paperwork or what have you, to the client it's very real and has to be complied with. So at the end of the day, the minor almost insignificant mistake by the lawyer has caused the client, however unintentionally, a great deal of frustration and consternation.

So, is there a lesson here? I think so. Two really: 1) Always strive in every relationship and dispute to see things, or at least try to, from the other side's perspective; and 2) As my father preached over and over, always measure twice--if not 3 or 4 times--and cut once. Thanks Dad.

EDTX Bench Bar Conference Follow Up

I've been remiss in not following up on the great conference we had at the Four Seasons in Dallas back at the end of September. As I posted previously, I was honored to be able to present a discussion, along with Greg Love of Stevens Love in Longview, on Current Developments in Venue. If you have any interest, you should still be able to find the presentation here: EDTX Venue Presentation. If that doesn't work, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to send it your way.