Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Indicia of Extortion


Here is one of my new favorite additions to my glossary of real life patent practice exegesis from the non-practicing entity part of the patent landscape:

Indicia of Extortion - filing nearly identical patent infringement complaints against a plethora of diverse defendants where the plaintiff (the guy filing the lawsuit) followed each filing with a demand for a quick settlement at a price far lower than the cost to defend the litigation.

Please cue the Sopranos music again.

A shout out to Judge Lourie for such an eloquently phrased definition of this practice which is found in the CAFC decision in Eon-Net LP v. Flagstar Bancorp.

An update from a reader's comment on December 5, 2012:

The most important indicia seems to be missing from your derfinition:
"where there is clearly no infringement." 





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