This recent item from Law360 (subscribers only) caught our eye: “Judge Koh Bars Apple From Calling Rival ‘Patent Troll’ At Trial.”
In addition to being referenced regularly at this blog for her food labeling class action rulings, Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District California has been presiding over a number of high-profile skirmishes in the “Smartphone Patent Wars.”
The case before her is GPNE Corp. v. Apple, Inc. GPNE alleged in its complaint last June that Apple iPads and iPhones infringe patents GPNE holds on data transmission. GPNE’s business model is arguably similar to that of other entities commonly labeled “patent trolls.” It does not practice its patents; rather, it seeks revenue through licensing and litigation. GPNE views the term as prejudicial and urged Judge Koh to prohibit its use before the jury.
In her June 24 Pretrial Order Re: Motions In Limine, Judge Koh dictated:
Apple may not refer to GPNE as a ‘patent troll,’ ‘pirate,’ ‘bounty hunter,’ ‘privateer,’ ‘bandit,’ ‘paper patent,’ ‘stick up,’ ‘shakedown,’ ‘playing the lawsuit lottery,’ ‘corporate shell game,’ or ‘a corporate shell.’
She did, however, permit Apple to use other terms when referring to GPNE:
Apple may refer to GPNE as a ‘non-practicing entity,’ ‘licensing entity,’ ‘patent assertion entity,’ ‘a company that doesn’t make anything,’ or ‘a company that doesn’t sell anything.’ The Court finds that this conclusion strikes the balance between allowing Apple to argue that GPNE’s status as a non-practicing entity is relevant to the calculation of reasonable royalties and to secondary considerations of non-obviousness without unduly prejudicing GPNE or confusing the jury. See Fed. R. Evid. 403.
Judge Koh’s order reflects how this once “inside baseball” term has become part of the broader patent law and technology policy lexicon. “Patent troll” was coined, ironically, in 1999 by an Intel attorney, Peter Detkin. Detkin left Intel and eventually co-founded Intellectual Ventures, a non-practicing entity which some have called “a patent troll on steroids.”
For years, only those who were narrowly involved with patent licensing and litigation uttered the term. Lately, however it is being utilized in everyday discussions on patents and technology. While President Obama did not specifically use the term is his February 2013 “Fireside Hangout” on Google Plus, he did accuse entities “that don’t produce anything themselves” of “extort[ing] money” out of technology producers. A document issued by the White House Task Force on High-Tech Patent Issues last June, however, did utilize the term “patent trolls” when discussing the need for reform.
One could argue that “patent troll” has become so widely used that it has lost its “punch” as a pejorative in characterizing those whose singular business is sticking up or shaking down technology-producing companies through opaque demand letters and playing the lawsuit lottery. Obviously, Judge Koh does not see it that way, and declared her courtroom a troll-free zone. Whether that helps GPNE prevail in its claim, however, is uncertain.
Also published at WLF’s Forbes.com contributor page