T. John Ward | |
---|---|
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas | |
In office July 15, 1999 –October 1, 2011 | |
Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | William Wayne Justice |
Succeeded by | Amos Mazzant |
Personal details | |
Born | Bonham,Texas,U.S. | April 17,1943
Education | Texas Tech University (B.A.) Baylor University (LL.B.) |
Thomas John Ward (born April 17,1943) [1] [2] is a retired United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. [3] He is best known for the large number of patent infringement cases brought before his court in Marshall,Texas. [4] [5]
T. John Ward was born in 1943 in Bonham,Texas. [6] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964 from Texas Tech University [7] and a Bachelor of Laws in 1967 from the Baylor Law School. [7] Ward was a legislative draftsperson for the Texas Legislative Council from 1967 to 1968 and an assistant county attorney in Lubbock County,Texas in 1968. He was in private practice as a malpractice and product liability lawyer from 1968 through 1999. [3] [7]
Ward was nominated to the district by President Bill Clinton on January 26,1999, [7] [8] confirmed by the United States Senate on July 13,1999,received his commission on July 15,1999 [7] and joined the bench in September 1999. [3] His service terminated on October 1,2011,due to retirement. [7]
Ward served on the board of trustees of the Good Shepherd Medical Center from 1987 to 1991 and 1994 to 1999,and was on the board of directors of the Good Shepherd Foundation from 1986 to 1988 and 1994 to 1997. He was on the advisory board of the East Texas Literacy Council from 1987 to 1991. [9]
In 2004,Ward was honored by Baylor Law School as its Baylor Lawyer of the Year,an award given annually to an outstanding alumnus who has brought honor and distinction to Baylor Law School and the legal profession. [9] In 2009,Ward was named the Trial Judge of the Year by the Texas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Ward has been described as a "plain-talking Texan" [10] who maintains a "folksy demeanor" and a "fiery temper". [3] He enjoys patent cases,citing their intellectual challenge. [7] [10] Ward was credited as having a solid knowledge of patent law and a dedication to efficiency. [8] Attorney Willem Schurrman has described Ward as being well-prepared and well-versed in the cases he hears. [11] He became interested in patent law while defending Hyundai Electronics against a lawsuit by Texas Instruments. [12] Hyundai lost and Texas Instruments was awarded $25.2 million in 1999. [12] Since Ward initially joined the Eastern District of Texas,the district has seen a tenfold increase in cases since 1999. [12] There were 14 patent cases in 1999, [12] 32 in 2002, [3] 155 in 2005, [12] and 234 in 2006. [3] And,in 2013,1,495 patent cases were filed. [13] The Eastern District of Texas is one of eight with more than 100 new patent filings each year. [12] Ward heard more than 160 patent cases in his first seven years on the bench. [8] He had been handling 90% of the patent cases in Marshall,but later was reduced to 60%. [7] Patent cases presented before Ward were more frequently won by the patent holder plaintiff than the defense. [14] One source claims that patent holders win 88% of the time in Ward's court,compared to an average of 68% nationwide. [8] Another source claims that patent cases in Marshall are won by patent holders 78% of the time versus 59% nationwide. [3] And a third source claims that in 90% of cases patent holders win jury verdicts. [12] Between taking the bench in 1999 and June 2006,Ward was overturned in only one patent case. [11] [15] Ward believes the problem of patent trolls is overstated and that his record of being overturned only once supports this view. [11] Ward has been described as pushing cases through quickly. [14] His court had been described as a "rocket docket" for its speed. [3] [7] [16] To speed things up,Ward adopted a set of rules covering both litigation and trial activities. Ward's rules were based on rules from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. [11] [15]
His litigation rules included early disclosure of positions,establishment of firm case deadlines,and sanctions for parties abusing the discovery process. Attorney Alan Fisch says that the "jurisdiction has a tailored set of rules for patent cases that streamline certain of the pretrial proceedings —generally this benefits both plaintiff and defendant." [10] Lawyers who do not move quickly enough are sanctioned. [12] Ward credits his rules and resulting speed with causing the increase in patent suits filed in the district. [3] Fast cases reduce expenses for financially strapped plaintiff patent holders. [8] Attorney Henry Bunsow claims that the fast cases can "cut legal fees in half." [7]
His trial rules included strict timetables and the use of a chess clock to time opening and closing arguments. [3] Each side in a case might receive between 9 and 15 hours for evidence,compared to other courts where it might take a month or more. [15] Defendants have incentive to settle rather than risk larger expenses. [3] [8]
There are claims that the juries in Marshall are plaintiff-friendly. [3] There is disagreement about the court's patent-friendliness. Charles Baker and Daniel Perez,attorneys who have both defended against patent suits in Ward's court,describe the court as "fair." [7] Ward has described the district as historically "plaintiffs-oriented," [3] and has described the Marshall jury pool as "defenders of property rights" and "friendly to patent owners' interests." [10] [12] Some claim that plaintiffs often have an advantage because they hire Marshall lawyers more likely to know the jurors and benefit from that information. [3]
T. John Ward's son,T. John "Johnny" Ward,Jr. is an attorney who is frequently called on to litigate patent cases in the Eastern District of Texas. [17]
Both T. John and T. "Johnny" Ward,and their connection are briefly mentioned in the 2017 feature-length documentary The Patent Scam produced by Austin Meyer (author of the X-Plane (simulator)). [18]
Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive,burdensome,and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which is otherwise a meritorious cause of action. Filing vexatious litigation is considered an abuse of the judicial process and may result in sanctions against the offender.
Patent infringement is an unauthorized act of - for example - making,using,offering for sale,selling,or importing for these purposes a patented product. Where the subject-matter of the patent is a process,infringement involves the act of using,offering for sale,selling or importing for these purposes at least the product obtained by the patented process. In other words,patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may vary by jurisdiction.
Forum shopping is a colloquial term for the practice of litigants taking actions to have their legal case heard in the court they believe is most likely to provide a favorable judgment. Some jurisdictions have,for example,become known as "plaintiff-friendly" and thus have attracted plaintiffs to file new cases there,even if there is little or no connection between the legal issues and the jurisdiction.
In international law and business,patent trolling or patent hoarding is a categorical or pejorative term applied to a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or contribution to the prior art,often through hardball legal tactics Patent trolls often do not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question. However,some entities,which do not practice their asserted patent,may not be considered "patent trolls",when they license their patented technologies on reasonable terms in advance.
Attorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an attorney for a client,in or out of court.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is a federal court in the Fifth Circuit.
In the field of law and economics,the English rule is a rule controlling assessment of lawyers' fees arising out of litigation. The English rule provides that the party that loses in court pays the other party's legal costs. The English rule contrasts with the American rule,under which each party is generally responsible for paying its own attorney fees.
Tort reform consists of changes in the civil justice system in common law countries that aim to reduce the ability of plaintiffs to bring tort litigation or to reduce damages they can receive. Such changes are generally justified under the grounds that litigation is an inefficient means to compensate plaintiffs;that tort law permits frivolous or otherwise undesirable litigation to crowd the court system;or that the fear of litigation can serve to curtail innovation,raise the cost of consumer goods or insurance premiums for suppliers of services,and increase legal costs for businesses. Tort reform has primarily been prominent in common law jurisdictions,where criticism of judge-made rules regarding tort actions manifests in calls for statutory reform by the legislature.
Theodore Harold Frank is an American lawyer,activist,and legal writer based in Washington,D.C. He is the counsel of record and petitioner in Frank v. Gaos,the first Supreme Court case to deal with the issue of cy pres in class action settlements;he is one of the few Supreme Court attorneys ever to argue his own case. He wrote the vetting report of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin for the John McCain campaign in the 2008 presidential election. He founded the Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) in 2009;it temporarily merged with the Competitive Enterprise Institute in 2015,but as of 2019 CCAF is now part of the new Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute,a free-market nonprofit public-interest law firm founded by Frank and his CCAF colleague Melissa Holyoak.
In the United States,a valid patent provides its proprietor with the right to exclude others from practicing the invention claimed in that patent. A person who practices that invention without the permission of the patent holder infringes that patent.
Richard "Rick" G. Frenkel was an in-house intellectual property counsel and director of intellectual property at Cisco Systems. He was once the anonymous author of the Patent Troll Tracker blog,focusing on the subject of "patent trolls" and "a must-read blog among top intellectual property litigators".
Denise Louise Cote is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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A copyright troll is a party that enforces copyrights it owns for purposes of making money through strategic litigation,in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic,sometimes without producing or licensing the works it owns for paid distribution. Critics object to the activity because they believe it does not encourage the production of creative works,but instead makes money through the inequities and unintended consequences of high statutory damages provisions in copyright laws intended to encourage creation of such works.
James Rodney Gilstrap is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He is notable for presiding over more than one quarter of all patent infringement cases filed in the nation and is often referred to by various sources as the country's single "busiest patent judge."
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TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC,581 U.S. ___ (2017),was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the venue in patent infringement lawsuits.
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