The big buzz around the IP world is that Rick Frenkel, the anonymous blogger of the Troll Tracker blog who just revealed his identity, along with his employer Cisco, have been sued for defamation by two attorneys from Texas, Eric Albritton and T. John Ward, Jr.
The lawsuit may be due to a posting over who filed what when in a lawsuit against Cisco for patent infringement. For Cisco, their response is apparently:
“The parties have mutually agreed to make no comment on the lawsuit in question at this time. That said, we would like to underscore that the comments made in the employee’s personal blog represented his own opinions and several of his comments are not consistent with Cisco’s views. We continue to have high regard for the judiciary of the Eastern District of Texas and confidence in the integrity of its judges.”
This story of mystery and intrigue can be followed at the Prior Art, by IP Law & Business writer Joe Mullin.
Earlier posts:
Also see:
This is interesting:
“‘Clear and convincing’ evidence not needed to survive dismissal†(http://www.rcfp.org/news/mag/24-3/lib-huckabee.html).
If I correctly understood this article (something you can best judge by reading the article yourself), Texas distinguishes itself from the majority of “fact-pleading†jurisdictions by not requiring a “public figure†defamation plaintiff to 1) plead facts showing actual malice on the part of the defendant or 2) plead facts meeting a heightened (see, e.g. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986)) standard of proof.
Texas appears to conform to Anderson v. Liberty Lobby when and if a defendant moves for summary judgment. However, it apparently will not dismiss a defamation complaint simply because a plaintiff would fail to meet a heightened standard of proof if all the facts alleged in the complaint are true.
By the way, the Federal Circuit (no stranger to heightened standards of proof) has cited Anderson v. Liberty Lobby more than 1500 times for the proposition that “The grant of a motion for summary judgment requires that there is no reasonable view of the material facts, taking cognizance of the evidentiary standards and burdens, whereby a reasonable jury could find for the non-movant.â€
[…] infamous Troll Tracker suit has come to an end. As we reported, Rick Frenkel, the anonymous blogger of the Troll Tracker blog who revealed his identity, along […]
[…] admin on Sep.23, 2009, under BioTech The barbarous Troll Tracker fit has come to an end. As we reported, Rick Frenkel, a unknown blogger of a Troll Tracker blog who revealed his identity, along with his […]