Will Judges Become More Skeptical of Joinder in SAD Scheme Cases?–Dongguan Juyuan v. Schedule A
[Like many of you, I am still trying to make sense of the election results. I’ll restart my normal blogging, but I’m having trouble focusing.] This is a design patent SAD Scheme case before Judge Jeremy C. Daniel in the…
Misjoinder Dooms SAD Scheme Patent Case–Wang v. Schedule A Defendants
35 U.S.C. § 299 limits joinder in patent cases to defendants who infringe using “the same accused product or process.” Congress enacted this requirement to restrict patent trolls who were filing lawsuits against defendants who had nothing in common but…
N.D. Cal. Judge Pushes Back on Copyright SAD Scheme Cases–Viral DRM v. YouTube Schedule A Defendants
My SAD Scheme paper provided some data indicating that 88% of SAD Scheme cases involved trademarks, with only 6% each in copyright and patents. So SAD Scheme copyright cases aren’t unheard of, but they are rare. * * * A…
A Judge Enumerates a SAD Scheme Plaintiff’s Multiple Abuses, But Still Won’t Award Sanctions–Jiangsu Huari Webbing Leather v. Schedule A Defendants
This is a SAD Scheme case. The plaintiff, Jiangsu Huari Webbing Leather, owns U.S. Patent No. 11,478,673 for an outdoor exercise product (“a rectangular-shaped buckle-and-belt mechanism, embodied in a Hanging Exercise Product that is sold online”). The plaintiff sued 163…
Now Available: the Published Version of My SAD Scheme Article
I’m pleased to share the final published version of my article, “A SAD Scheme of Abusive Intellectual Property Litigation.” The article explains how IP rightsowners are twisting the rule of law to obtain ex parte TROs that prompt online marketplaces…
The DTSA Ex Parte Seizure Provision Was Always Bad Policy–Janssen v. Evenus
In 2016, Congress enacted the Defend Trade Secret Act (DTSA). Among other provisions, it created a brand-new remedy, the ex parte seizure order, that allows trade secret owners to grab allegedly stolen trade secret items before they are spirited away…
My Comments to the USPTO About the SAD Scheme and Anticounterfeiting/Antipiracy Efforts
[I submitted the following comments to the USPTO] __ To: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce From: Prof. Eric Goldman, Associate Dean for Research, Santa Clara University School of Law Date: August 22, 2023 Re: Comments regarding…
My New Article on Abusive “Schedule A” IP Lawsuits Will Likely Leave You Angry
I’m pleased to share a draft of a new paper, “A SAD New Category of Abusive Intellectual Property Litigation.” The abstract: This paper describes a sophisticated but underreported system of mass-defendant intellectual property litigation called the “Schedule A Defendants Scheme”…
2H 2022 Quick Links, Part 3 (Copyrights and More)
Copyright * Wallster, Inc. v. Redbubble, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198181 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2022): this Court rejects Wallshoppe’s argument that recklessness is enough to meet the knowledge requirement for contributory copyright infringement… Wallshoppe alleges Defendant has a…
The Legal Implications of Datacenter Location (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble The location of a datacenter matters—the location of third-party datacenters affects companies’ (datacenter customers’) decisions whether to use the datacenters for colocation or other services. Part of any assessment of the suitability of a datacenter…