Patent Litigation
How Litigation Finance Busts the Bank of Legal Trust
The American legal system gives lawyers vast powers over private citizens. In the United States, there are no “loser pays” rules, no limits on lawyers’ ability to file complaints, and a summons ...
Litigation Funders In Their Own Words
Rarely does one get a peek behind the curtain in the secretive and highly profitable world of third-party litigation funding (TPLF). In fact, there’s such little transparency in the TPLF industry th...
An Up and Down Year at the USPTO
By: Sam Baird, Director of Analytics at Unified Patents
From the confirmation of Kathi Vidal as Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to the Western District of Texas’...
In WDTX, the Numbers Tell the Story
If there was ever any doubt that Judge Alan Albright’s courtroom in Waco, Texas was a favorable venue for patent trolls, we can now put that notion to rest. The proof is in the numbers.
For...
State Attorneys General Raise Concerns About Threats Posed by Litigation Funding
In November, I wrote about the opportunity for Congress to find common ground on transparency issues, including bringing greater transparency to the third-party litigation funding (TPLF) industry. TPL...
Even Avanci’s Supporters Don’t Defend its Litigation Funding Scheme
In July 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division issued a business review letter (BRL) addressing Avanci LLC’s proposed pool pursuant to which it would “license patent claims th...
60 Minutes Puts Spotlight on Litigation Funders
On Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a segment titled: Litigation Funding: A multibillion-dollar industry for investments in lawsuits with little oversight.
During the piece, Lesley Stahl spoke with a bus...
A few potential cases (and a percolating issue?) to watch at the ITC
On a recent episode of Ropes & Gray’s Talkin’ Trade podcast, my colleagues and I mentioned a few current developments at the International Trade Commission (ITC) that we will be watching close...
An End of Year Look at the ITC
As we close in on the end of the year, it seems like a good time to look at who exactly has been bringing cases before the International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC’s mission includes investigat...