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Apple Plans to Close Stores in Eastern District of Texas in Fight Against Patent Trolls [Updated]
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I would say that there is enough proof in Apple's opinion to warrant closing the two stores in the Eastern District of Texas.
Southlake could use the update, anyhow. Good choice there, and great strategy by Apple. US Patent System abuse costing real inconvenience to real people.
One should add here, this story is apparently from a ‘source’, so we have who knows ‘claiming’ Apple is closing these stores due to patent trolls, NOTHING has officially been said by Apple bar the stores are closing.. so it could all be made up by people putting two and two together and coming up with five, and Apple could have completely different reasons for closing the stores.
Well if Apple closes the stores we can surmise why it might be beneficial to them. Apple will probably say they just didn't do much business in these locations or that business decisions warranted they be closed.
Ironically the patent trolls litigate the eastern district into the Stone Age as anyone with a product that has any value will simply avoid the area. Hardly, a good outcome for the residents. Have to go out there and vote people!
Nothing you said makes any sense.
1) why should anybody be sued in a place where they have nothing to do with that location. Would you like to be sued in Iowa and have to travel there, even though you don’t live there?
2) you don’t recover costs in patent law merely because the suit is frivolous. More importantly, a suit might be just barely more than frivolous, with no hope of winning, and apple would still have to defend it.
3) you can still sue apple in lots of other places.
4) this doesn’t “influence legal proceedings in the district.”
5) the district is notorious for being overruled by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, particularly with respect to the district holding on to cases that have no business being there.
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The patent lawsuit industry has likely created many more jobs in the district than Apple.
These are Federal judges appointed by DC politicians, not anyone that is duly elected by the citizens of Eastern Texas.
Here's the profile for the Chief Judge that is most responsible for this mess. He was most assuredly not elected by the citizens of Collin County, nor anyone else in that region of the state. He was a Presidential appointee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rodney_Gilstrap
That sucks for Willowbend and Stonebriar. They just spent $$$ remodeling Willowbend which is a quasi dead mall, that might send that mall into a tailspin. Really sucks because I visit both. It will be a big addition to Galleria and will really increase that malls foot traffic. I bet the Galleria spot is already under construction..
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I wonder how soon other companies will follow Apple lead. Any company that has a warehouse or retail outlet in the district, and patents, might pack up and move a few miles away.
Live close to both stores and never purchased/serviced any of my apple products from it. Local apple resellers are celebrating right about now.
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Actually the opposite in that area. Toyota NA HQ now in Plano, Ericsson has a huge presence, HP, etc.List goes on.
The TC Heartland case, and the In re: Cray follow up were fairly recent. Before now it didn’t much matter if you were in the eastern district because if you were sued there the courts would usually allow the suit to proceed there. Now things are different. Much like Brexit, you may see companies leave the district if they don’t have a good reason to be there.
Good points. The term you're looking for is "standing." It is one of the first things a judge will consider in a case. Basically, "Why are you here, standing in my court?" If Apple has no presence in his or her jurisdiction, the judge will find no standing for the case to proceed. If it works, I wonder why Apple (and others) hasn't done this move already.
Well on the plus side. The Galleria has three full office towers of workers who have easy access to an Apple store instead of driving 30 minutes to Willow Bend or Northpark. Always though it was odd they didn’t put one there to serve (actual)North Dallas-Addison-Richardson
No, standing was definitely not the word I was looking for. What you described is not standing. Standing means that I am an injured party entitled to assert whatever rights I am trying to assert in that particular court. For example, if you are hit by a car, and you are injured, and I don’t know you, i don’t have standing to sue the driver who hit you, but you do, and your family might (because they lost your income, etc.).
The word you are looking for is personal jurisdiction. The court has to be able to assert its jurisdiction over Apple’s person, which it can only do if Apple has some sort of tie to the jurisdiction or has done something in the jurisdiction to warrant it being hauled into the jurisdiction to defend itself.
You're wrong. Northpark is the biggest store in the market. source: I worked at three of the four stores in this market.
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Part of what you don't understand about magnetic strip payment is that there is such a thing as a general use patent. Apple uses the hell out of them and also doesn't have a problem with others using their general use patents.
The other problem is the other side of this coin: Apple could walk in and steal a patent and hope no one sues them.
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Be that as it may, companies dead or alive that hold rights to patents have rights to defend them. If apple is choosing to just leave the district, that's very telling of how well Apple wants to defend their case, which is not much at all.
Patent trolls are an annoyance. Big corporations with deep pockets who can steal a humble entity’s invention and make litigation unaffordable for the plaintiff are the evil ones.
I wish, but no. The Eastern District of Texas still has what is known as personal jurisdiction over Apple, because Apple purposefully avails itself of the benefits of that forum even without its own stores. For that reason, class actions against Apple can still proceed there provided other requirements are met. The changes that Apple is taking advantage of are patent law specific.
That's ********. I live in Dallas and I'm telling you that map is fake news. Everyone in North Texas knows that Stonebriar and Willow Bend are not in Dallas county, they're in Collin. And at 4pm in the afternoon, there's no ****ing way you're getting there in seven minutes.
Can someone simplify this for me?
Whats the issue (???)
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(of course, there are now 10 7-11s in my city of 200k (& 1 is like 1 block away from me, so it would suck if it closed,)
I asked 7-11 & they just said it was a business decision...
it just sucks that stores close,
while their executives (in another country, BTW,) get huge salaries, raises, bonuses, severance, retirement...)
Whats the issue (???)
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7-11 closed (& tore down) 3 of their stores in my city the same day last year (& opened 1 new one)
(of course, there are now 10 7-11s in my city of 200k (& 1 is like 1 block away from me, so it would suck if it closed,)
I asked 7-11 & they just said it was a business decision...
it just sucks that stores close,
while their executives (in another country, BTW,) get huge salaries, raises, bonuses, severance, retirement...)