DISH Network and Echostar Statement Regarding PTO Ruling

[jacmyoung]

Who calls the shot as to whether the ATT/MS case is moved out of Folsom's court? If its the Federal Circuit hearing the Tivo vs. Echostar case, then that should be pretty telling as to its views of Folsom's previous actions if the move is allowed.

Fitzie

Judge Folsom is likely to deny the transfers, but Verizon and ATT/MS are likely to appeal. While odds are against them on appeal, they must be motivated by the fact in the past two years, the appeals court granted 4 such petitions out of the E. TX court after the judges there refused to transfer their cases, which was unheard of before.

Charlie said right before the en banc order that he was willing to pay TiVo $120M a year lump sum to settle the case and have E* and TiVo "work together." I suspect after the en banc order he is no longer feeling so generous.

 

[whatchel1]

en banc order

Judge Folsom is likely to deny the transfers, but Verizon and ATT/MS are likely to appeal. While odds are against them on appeal, they must be motivated by the fact in the past two years, the appeals court granted 4 such petitions out of the E. TX court after the judges there refused to transfer their cases, which was unheard of before.

Charlie said right before the en banc order that he was willing to pay TiVo $120M a year lump sum to settle the case and have E* and TiVo "work together." I suspect after the en banc order he is no longer feeling so generous.

I think maybe the en banc order is about to weaken what ever Judge Folsom has to say about the whole business.

 

[jacmyoung]

Today the appeals court again granted a petition for writ of mandamus, ordering the E. TX court to transfer a patent case out of its own court, to a different district court. This is the fifth one. It is very important to note that in this case, the appeals court dismissed the argument made by the E. TX court that there is another concurrent lawsuit involving similar/identical patents pending in the E. TX court.

With this latest decision by the appeals court, I am almost certain Verizon and ATT/MS will appeal, if Judge Folsom denies their motions for transfer.

To grant a petition for writ of mandamus, the appeals court must conclude that the lower court had made a decision that was "patently erroneous" and the petitioner was left with no other remedy but to seek the relief by the appeals court.

I think five of such orders issued against one district court (unheard of to begin with) by the appeals court in a relatively short time period, should have some significant impact on how parties assess their positions in those patent cases in the E. TX court, especially if the cases are pending review by the appeals court.

 

[whatchel1]

Folsom's court is pretty much a disgrace

Today the appeals court again granted a petition for writ of mandamus, ordering the E. TX court to transfer a patent case out of its own court, to a different district court. This is the fifth one. It is very important to note that in this case, the appeals court dismissed the argument made by the E. TX court that there is another concurrent lawsuit involving similar/identical patents pending in the E. TX court.

With this latest decision by the appeals court, I am almost certain Verizon and ATT/MS will appeal, if Judge Folsom denies their motions for transfer.

To grant a petition for writ of mandamus, the appeals court must conclude that the lower court had made a decision that was "patently erroneous" and the petitioner was left with no other remedy but to seek the relief by the appeals court.

I think five of such orders issued against one district court (unheard of to begin with) by the appeals court in a relatively short time period, should have some significant impact on how parties assess their positions in those patent cases in the E. TX court, especially if the cases are pending review by the appeals court.

Pretty much is saying that Folsom doesn't really know what he is doing in these type of cases then. Time for them to pull all of these type of cases out of his jurisdiction. I wonder if he has been benefiting in some way from his rulings? Hmmm.

 

[kc0zhq]

East Texas is known for being very "friendly" to patent holders, and that's why you see a lot of cases there. These companies will find any excuse they can to have their cases heard there. I think that's why there are an unusual number of cases get transfered back out. Those excuses don't hold up very well.

 

[jacmyoung]

... I think that's why there are an unusual number of cases get transfered back out. Those excuses don't hold up very well.

These forced transfers only started two years ago, which was my point, the appeals court has finally gotten fed up with it. Also each of those 5 orders read more critical of the E. TX court than the previous one.

This latest one did not even go into too much depth to explain why than the other four, it basically called the patent owner's game a shame, of course the E. TX court was part of the game.

BTW, this last one was not Judge Folsom's case, rather Judge Ward's. Although one of the previous ones was Judge Folsom's. It is also important to note that initially the TiVo v. Verizon and ATT cases were assigned to Judge Ward, he then reassigned them to Judge Folsom. At the time I speculated that the reason Judge Ward did so was likely because he knew Verizon and ATT would try to move the cases out of his court, by assigning them to Judge Folsom, the chances were better that Judge Folsom could keep them, because Judge Folsom was involved in the TiVo v. E* for years already.

And because of that, I say Verizon and ATT still have an uphill battle on the motions to transfer, but this latest appeals court decision can only strengthen their resolve. I think this order also strengthen Charlie's position as he assesses his outlook of his appeal, not that he was ever hesitant to appeal before only that he is even less likely to settle with TiVo. On that note, it is not necessarily a good thing, I continue to believe it is better for E* and TiVo to work together. But the latest news coming out of the appeals court and the PTO might just have gotten Charlie thinking that he could get rid of TiVo in the end.