Patent Law

Inside Job

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

Joe Mullin penned a sagging saga of supposedly secret patenting in his entry about Odom v. Microsoft. The Joe Zone of the Unknown will shrink soon, as infringement contentions are due Friday.

Mullin seemed mesmerized by Microsoft's bodacious brouhaha about long-expired contracts, flashed his claim construction IQ, and got some details wrong. But, hey, he's just a reporter for the mainstream press, working his beat.

But there is drama afoot in this case. If this is something "more than a garden-variety patent case," as Microsoft contends, it has more to do with the size of the garden patch than with its contention of "misconduct that gives rise to Microsoft's defense of equitable estoppel, waiver, and unclean hands."

Some of the most ridiculous comedy comes packaged as serious as a rattlesnake. Time will tell whose hands are clean. Markman hearing in Odom v. Microsoft is set for November 12, 2009, with trial set for June 7, 2010, in Tyler Texas.

This blogger begs the understanding of its readers that, being a litigant in an active case, discretion is necessary. Your questions are most likely to go unanswered. Thanks.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on December 02, 2008 (boomark / email).