New Breed of Patent Claim Bedevils Product Makers

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I would like once again to remind DU'ers of the unceasing excellence of The Wall Street Journal. I try to read at least one article in it every day. I urge you to buy a copy of today's paper.

You might find something familiar sounding about this sort of claim.

New Breed of Patent Claim Bedevils Product Makers

Law - September 1, 2010

By Dionne Searcey

Raymond E. Stauffer was shopping at a New Jersey mall when he noticed something peculiar about the bow ties on display at Brooks Brothers: They were labeled with old patent numbers.

Mr. Stauffer, who calls himself a "sharp-dressed man," also happens to be a patent lawyer. He sued Brooks Brothers Inc. in federal court, claiming it broke the law by marking its adjustable bow ties with patents that expired in the 1950s.

He figured the retailer would have to pay a nominal amount for violating a law that bars companies from marking products with erroneous patent numbers.

A federal appellate court ruling on Tuesday breathed new life into his case by upholding his right to sue—and could pave the way for hundreds of similar suits against major companies to move forward. A separate ruling in December raised the stakes in such cases, potentially exposing product makers to huge liabilities.
....

"Every plaintiff who brings one of these cases is a private attorney general who is doing a service to the United States, and I'm doing the same," says Mr. Stauffer, a lawyer in Roseland, N.J.
....

Some of the cases have settled because companies fear a bad outcome or don't want to incur large legal fees fighting them.

"You're paying the hostage fee," says Mark Willard, a lawyer who represented hand-tool manufacturer Ames True Temper Co. in a suit involving a shrub rake.
....

The lawsuits have been filed by relatively few people or entities, many of whom have close ties to plaintiffs' lawyers who work on patent suits. Some are filed in the name of organizations owned by patent attorneys.

One plaintiff, Sarah Tompkins, who has sued more than a dozen companies, is the wife of Allen, Texas, patent lawyer George Tompkins.

Mr. Tompkins says he heard about the December federal-court ruling from lawyer friends. He and his wife then spent hours poring over Internet advertising to check for outdated patents on products, a process that can be relatively simple because patents are numbered chronologically. Patents that start with the number 4, for example, have expired in recent years.

The couple trekked to retail stores to find falsely marked products on shelves. Their lawsuit against multiple companies also contains false advertising claims.

"We decided what companies were doing was wrong, so we filed a lawsuit," Mr. Tompkins says.

Write to Dionne Searcey at [e-mail]

[izquierdista]

1. We decided there was a quick buck in it,

so we filed a lawsuit. Hey, since when has making a quick buck been wrong? :shrug:

[PBS Poll-435]

2. Sarcasm, I hope

I don't spend my dough on News Corp stuff. (except The Simpsons. Never DVRd, only live as I am NOT a Nielsen household.)

[Rebubula]

3. Sometimes...

...lawyers just go out of their way to prove all the Lawyer jokes on the street.


"We decided what companies were doing was wrong, so we filed a lawsuit," Mr. Tompkins says.

Translated - we saw a way that we could make a shit load of money without any real work involved, we are awesome.