Lawsuit of the Day: ICR v. Fish & Richardson
We’re rather late on this, but better late than never. Some time ago, one of you sent us this tip:
Fish & Richardson has asserted ownership over patents secured by a former principal who, in addition to being an attorney, also is a prolific inventor (and alleged “patent troll”).Interestingly enough, Fish appears to have made its claims only after Google, one of its clients, was sued under a patent claiming a technology that Harris invented while at Fish. See Patently O, which has a copy of the Complaint.
What a mess. Anyway, we were reminded of the case yesterday, when it was picked up by Overlawyered:
Annals of creative patent lawyering: Highly placed attorney with intellectual-property specialists Fish & Richardson accumulates his own portfolio of patents, quits the firm, begins suing Fish & Richardson clients, things get messy fast (Patent Troll Tracker, Oct. 21).
We expect to be following this case for a while. If you have some inside info to share, please email us. Thanks.
Annals of creative patent lawyering [Overlawyered]
A Tangled Web of Patent Rights [Patently O: Patent Law Blog]
Fish & Richardson Strikes Back at Scott Harris [Patent Troll Tracker]
Patent Troll Sues Fish & Richardson [Patent Troll Tracker]




Comments
That's nuts.
It's also nuts to be First.
Speaking of trolls . . .
That's really interesting. You'd think that if you handled patent prosecution for client that you'd be conflicted from competing with their patents/inventions.
Once, twice, three times a third poster.
Patent attorneys are HOT!
no love here
I find it rather reassuring that the ATL comment crowd has little interest in the patent world.
Yeah, patent law is much too difficult for most ATL readers. If you can't hack it, ignore it.
I find it rather reassuring that the ATL comment crowd has little interest in the patent world.
I don't think any crowd except for the crowd consisting of patent dorks that drool on themselves at firm functions have an interest in patent law.
from my personal experience, chicks dig patent lawyers
Patent litigation attorneys are too freaking busy to pay attention to this board.
tranny girlfriends of investment bankers to 190!