6 ms·

Well I didn't know that US patent cases can be presented to a jury. I don't envy them on that considering the language these things are written in. I wonder ho

by dolbz 15y ago

Well I didn't know that US patent cases can be presented to a jury. I don't envy them on that considering the language these things are written in. I wonder how many hours are spent 'training' the jury in the legalese required to understand the case? And this would have to be done for each and every case that has a jury!

adestefan 15y ago
It's the judge's responsibility to explain the legal basis to the jury in the form of jury instructions. These will usually be created in consultation with the lawyers for both sides. Trial by jury is the reason why East Texas is the court of choice for patent claims. For some reason jury verdicts there seem to be biased towards the patent holder. I should also note that being a juror in a federal case sucks. The first issue is that you're "on call" as a juror for 30 days instead of a day or two like most counties/municipalities. The second part is the cases are usually boring. People don't like to bring cases that they're likely to lose to a Federal court.
- monochromatic 15y ago
  > Trial by jury is the reason why East Texas is the court of choice for patent claims. Not true. The local rules in the Eastern District are seen as favorable to patent plaintiffs. It's (basically) nothing to do with the jury pool out there.
- wmil 15y ago
  > For some reason jury verdicts there seem to be biased towards the patent holder. The jury is instructed to assume the patent is valid until they are convinced it is not. If the patent holder's lawyer can confuse the jury, the patent will be upheld. It's pretty easy for a lawyer to do that.
- tptacek 15y ago
  As 'tzs pointed out a few weeks ago, the East Texas issue is something that the America Invents Act (the recent patent reform bill) actually addresses: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3006925 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3006925
tptacek 15y ago
Patent claims constructions are carefully written so as to present a decision tree to the court. The court translates the language into that decision tree worded for laypersons; expert witnesses for both sides make arguments at each node of the tree. A good, simple starting point: http://www.bpmlegal.com/howtopat5.html http://www.bpmlegal.com/howtopat5.html

by dolbz 15y ago

adestefan 15y ago

It's the judge's responsibility to explain the legal basis to the jury in the form of jury instructions. These will usually be created in consultation with the lawyers for both sides. Trial by jury is the reason why East Texas is the court of choice for patent claims. For some reason jury verdicts there seem to be biased towards the patent holder. I should also note that being a juror in a federal case sucks. The first issue is that you're "on call" as a juror for 30 days instead of a day or two like most counties/municipalities. The second part is the cases are usually boring. People don't like to bring cases that they're likely to lose to a Federal court.

monochromatic 15y ago
> Trial by jury is the reason why East Texas is the court of choice for patent claims. Not true. The local rules in the Eastern District are seen as favorable to patent plaintiffs. It's (basically) nothing to do with the jury pool out there.
wmil 15y ago
> For some reason jury verdicts there seem to be biased towards the patent holder. The jury is instructed to assume the patent is valid until they are convinced it is not. If the patent holder's lawyer can confuse the jury, the patent will be upheld. It's pretty easy for a lawyer to do that.
tptacek 15y ago
As 'tzs pointed out a few weeks ago, the East Texas issue is something that the America Invents Act (the recent patent reform bill) actually addresses: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3006925 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3006925

tptacek 15y ago

Patent claims constructions are carefully written so as to present a decision tree to the court. The court translates the language into that decision tree worded for laypersons; expert witnesses for both sides make arguments at each node of the tree. A good, simple starting point: http://www.bpmlegal.com/howtopat5.html http://www.bpmlegal.com/howtopat5.html