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Apple Plans to Close Stores in Eastern District of Texas in Fight Against Patent Trolls [Updated]

G4DPII said:
Talk about spitting your dummy out. Is that how pathetic Apple really have become?
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Yeah, not that the fanboys will see sense. Irrespective of who it is filing the claim, if Apple is found to have infringed the patent(s) then a judge is simply applying the law. If the suit is frivolous, Apple should be recovering costs from the claimant if the judge finds in their favour.

Apple is using their commercial might to try and influence legal proceedings in the district. This is a disgrace, and way beyond the big babies running the company simply deciding to take their ball home because they don't like the rules. They know exactly what they are doing.

You can bet your bottom dollar if this was Google, Samsung or even the Trump Organisation rather than Apple doing this, the responses in this forum would be very different.
 
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bflowers said:
It isn't the rules, it is the judicial environment. They'll still get sued, but in districts where the outcome isn't heavily favoring the trolls. It is like home field advantage for the trolls. If you want supporting evidence of biased judicial environment, just look up Madison County IL. It has repeatedly earned the title of Judicial Hellhole, mostly due to asbestos cases.
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Exactly this. It isn’t that the Eastern District of Texas has qualitatively different rules or more “experienced judges,” it’s that plaintiffs run the table in this district. And that’s not just true for patent litigation. Class action plaintiffs flock to this district as well.

Apple’s action is the result of a Federal Circuit case and its progeny, which tightened the rules on where a patent defendant can be sued. Other companies will do the same thing. In this sense, the Eastern District of Texas is demonstrably anti-business.
 
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The willow bend store is the biggest Apple store in the dfw area. It houses the business support staff and a lot of other things. Surprising they’re uprooting this.
 
LordVic said:
While I agree that the patent laws in the US have gotten ridiculous and cannot handle modern tech, the flip side of this is Apple could also do their diligence and ensure that they're not violating others patents. and if they do, instead of running headlong and ignoring the patent till they're sued...
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Apple surely does their due diligence in these situations, but when you have patents so broad that they cover "sending information using the electromagnetic spectrum", how can you not violate them? Or when you have judges who make decisions that favor the plaintiffs regardless of the merits of the case?

And Apple probably does engage with many of these patent holders for licenses, but it the terms presented to them are deemed unreasonable and Apple feels the patent never should have been granted in the first place due to it's broadness, then they may be taking a strategic decision by infringing to get it into court to dispute the original granting of the patent.
 
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cmaier said:
I'll never forget the one time I was in Marshall to argue a patent case and samsung had bought out the square in front of the court house to set up a public ice rink for the kiddies.
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That’s what I love about Samsung—they have a soul. That was a really nice gesture. Love stories like that.
 
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NO PITY Apple! Move your off shore cash home! Fix Itunes! Fix Photos! No patent trolls owning up to that mess!!
 
jona2125 said:
Coming from the company that buys other companies outright to maintain technological exclusivity
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Apple buys companies to use their technology in actual products.

Patent trolls buy dead companies to collect patents as an arsenal to go around suing other companies. They have no employees, and contribute nothing to the economy. They're just bloodsucking zombies out to stuff the pockets of their two or three shareholders.
 
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lunarworks said:
Apple buys companies to use their technology in actual products.

Patent trolls buy dead companies to collect patents as an arsenal to go around suing other companies. They have no employees, and contribute nothing to the economy. They're just bloodsucking zombies out to stuff the pockets of their two or three shareholders.
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Your comment is not going to age well. :p:D
 
CWallace said:
Apple surely does their due diligence in these situations, but when you have patents so broad that they cover "sending information using the electromagnetic spectrum", how can you not violate them? Or when you have judges who make decisions that favor the plaintiffs regardless of the merits of the case?

And Apple probably does engage with many of these patent holders for licenses, but it the terms presented to them are deemed unreasonable and Apple feels the patent never should have been granted in the first place due to it's broadness, then they may be taking a strategic decision by infringing to get it into court to dispute the original granting of the patent.
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Right, I'm not a big fan of patent trolls existing for the purposes of patent trolling. I think the whole system needs a tear down and a fix.

But at the same time, if a patent holder refuses to license a non standards patent, Apple has to respect that (well, ALL companies should) and find a different method to accomplish it.
 
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Winter Charm said:
Well, the eastern district of texas gets their just desserts for making it so easy for patent trolls to file there... GG.
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This is a federal district. The people living there have literally no control whatsoever over this corruption. Apple's making the right call, but this is just another example of our our court system has gone completely off the rails.
 
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bbeagle said:
Say you had 20 convenience stores. 18 are doing fine. 2 of them in Downtown Detroit keep getting robbed, you're losing money there. Is it pathetic for you to stop serving Downtown Detroit?
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Companies that make this call are accused of racism. The whole world has gone completely insane.
 
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69Mustang said:
Your comment is not going to age well. :p:D
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"Apple is doooomed."

LordVic said:
Right, I'm not a big fan of patent trolls existing for the purposes of patent trolling. I think the whole system needs a tear down and a fix.

But at the same time, if a patent holder refuses to license a non standards patent, Apple has to respect that (well, ALL companies should) and find a different method to accomplish it.
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It's not so much the patent holder refusing to licence a patent. It's them not reaching out when they see the violation happen, and then sitting and waiting as long as possible for a potential massive payoff to grow. They never initiate a lawsuit when the product hits the market, they always wait till it's a billion dollar golden goose.
 
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lunarworks said:
"Apple is doooomed."


It's not so much the patent holder refusing to licence a patent. It's them not reaching out when they see the violation happen, and then sitting and waiting as long as possible for a potential massive payoff to grow. They never initiate a lawsuit when the product hits the market, they always wait till it's a billion dollar golden goose.
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And it sucks. But it's the same game everyone is playing. For Apple to throw a fit about it and "take their ball and go home" is hypocritical, when they themselves used a patent troll they formed to do exactly the same thing.

the whole system is broken. Everyone, including Apple is abusing it. At some point, someone needs to use their muscle to fix it. But so far all we're getting is the companies who have the power to sway government to fixing patent reform, aren't doing it, because they themselves use those very same patent rules they bitch about to sue as well.

it's a massive incestuous game they're all playing.
 
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This is crazy that they should have to do this. Just got my Apple Watch Series 4 at Willow Bend this month. The Galleria isn't too much farther away, but Willow Bend has struggled to exist since day one (just after the 9-11 attacks). This won't help the mall.
 
G4DPII said:
Talk about spitting your dummy out. Is that how pathetic Apple really have become?
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I suspect if YOU were paying fines and penalties as a result of these frivolous claims, you'd close shop as well. Shady is a nice word when talking about patent litigation in the eastern district of Texas.
 
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G4DPII said:
Talk about spitting your dummy out. Is that how pathetic Apple really have become?
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Lol Apple is pathetic? What's pathetic is that ****** patent trolls continually file in this same district because they know they'll probably win, and the system just accepts it as normal.
[doublepost=1550852956][/doublepost]
now i see it said:
Once again, trying to skirt the law.
Although the "patent trolls" hammer  for every infringement it makes on other's IP, the fact is  is frequently stealing other's IP. Verified by the number of patent cases won against them.
Bottom line:  steals IP and doesn't want to pay for it. Enhancing people's lives... Theirs.
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I'm struggling to comprehend how anyone could seriously make such a ridiculous argument.
 
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