Federal Judiciary

"Patent Litigation - A Practitioner's Perspective" - Door County WI IP Academy

By Michael Smith

Been on the road a lot lately speaking on patent litigation topics.  Most recently last Friday in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin at the Door County Intellectual Property Academy, sponsored by the State Bar of Wisconsin's IP Section.  Sturgeon Bay, for those of you that haven't been there personally, is where you end up if you fly into Green Bay, and then drive northeast until you hit Lake Michigan.
Now you might be asking yourself why Door County, Wisconsin, would have an IP Academy, but being as I'm from Marshall, Texas, I don't.  I just accept that good things happen in small towns, and appreciate the chance to talk to some lawyers trying to figure out how to create and maintain a good patent case docket..
I missed the first day hanging out in airports (I highly recommend Terminal C in Cincinnati, where the Outback Steakhouse provides real silverware and an unparallelled view of the backsides of big jets - sort of like Atlanta after a visit from a can opener), but thoroughly enjoyed the second day, especially the judges panel "What Judges Want You To Know About IP Cases" with Judge Barbara Crabb of the Western District of Wisconsin, and Judge William Griesbach of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, moderated by Meredith Addy of the Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione firm.  Judge Crabb, as many readers know, knows a thing or two about the constellation of patent cases (pun intended), and I had an enjoyable visit with both judges in the hall before their talk talking about how the Eastern District of Texas judges manage their patent dockets.  Judge Crabb's comments on how she handles her patent cases were quite similar to what Texas practitioners hear from our judges - she handles them just like any other case, and she encourages lawyers to simplify their cases.  She also seems to be quite no-nonsense about conduct in her court, and had a few good stories for the audience.  They succeeded in covering about half of my paper for me, which saves time, I guess.
I spoke last on "Patent Litigation - A Practitioner's Perspective" - I'm not posting the article at this time as I am in the process of revising it and hope to publish it someplace in the near future (if anyone knows of any publications that might be interested in something like this, let me know).
Once again, I appreciate the hospitality of the Wisconsin bar on my brief visit, particularly Amy Lindner, chair of the IP Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin.  I really enjoyed my visit, and hope I left an interesting thought or two behind.

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on July 29, 2008 (boomark / email).