Federal Judiciary

TexasBarCLE Advanced Patent Litigation Course ? Day 2

By Michael Smith

Day Two of the course opened with a presentation on ethical issues surrounding client representation, followed by a very helpful session on Markman hearings with Marshall and Texarkana magistrate judges Caroline Craven and Chad Everingham.  (Hot tip - don't use an ellipsis to change the meaning of a quote, i.e. "I am not having an affair" cannot be transformed into "I am ... having an affair" through the creative use of an ellipsis.  Amazingly, some parties have tried this in Markman briefs.  Seriously, they have). 
Next up were three linked presentations entitled Washington is Watching, Wall Street is Watching, and The Clients are Watching (and they are not happy). The first topic was presented by Vincent Garlock of AIPLA, with a surprise assist from Alberto Gonzalez, who replaced Jim Etheridge of Electronics for Imaging, who slid over to the Wall Street panel to replace Erich Spangenberg of IP Navigation, who was not able to attend.  There was also a lunch presentation on corporate counsel?s advice to the board relating to patent matters.
The day ended with the judges panel What Patent Litigators Must Know which I moderated with panelists SD Cal judge Marilyn Huff, former Oklahoma federal judge Layne Phillips and former ED magistrate judge Robert Faulkner.  No piano playing from Judge Huff, and Judge Phillips explained that it is common for him to have a former judge as an assistant when he's brought in as a special master overseeing settlement in mega-cases like DataTreasury.  He also said it was nice meaning Judge Gonzalez at the seminar - he hadn't met him before.

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on August 01, 2008 (boomark / email).