In the News - October 16, 2009

Dallas Business Journal:

Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc., the American unit of a French maker of telecom equipment, has brought a large intellectual property suit, alleging that a number of large companies in the Internet sales and retail sector have infringed on as many as a half-dozen of its patents relating to e-commerce and search engine technology.

With around 1,830 employees in North Texas, Alcatel-Lucent is seeking a court order barring eight companies from infringing on the patents in question and forcing those companies to destroy all of their products that allegedly infringe in the patents. It is also seeking unspecified damages in the litigation, filed in late September in federal district court in Tyler.

"Alcatel-Lucent views its intellectual property as a vital asset, and we will continue to preserve and defend this asset," said Mary Ward, a company spokeswoman, in a statement e-mailed to the Dallas Business Journal.

Some lawyers not affiliated with the Alcatel-Lucent litigation say it has the potential to be a significant case.

.......

Bill Munck, managing partner of the Dallas law firm Munck Carter LLP, said Alcatel-Lucent does not qualify as a patent troll, since it is a legitimate business that sells real products, rather than relying on licensing revenue from patents for its existence. But, he added, the patents at issue in the suit aren't part of Alcatel-Lucent's core business. "All they're saying is, this isn't part of our core business," but that doesn't change the fact that they want to license the patents, Munck said.

Patent Attorney Bill Munck in Dallas Business Journal

Munck finds it interesting that big-name companies like Alcatel-Lucent are heading to the Eastern District of Texas to pursue patent claims. These companies have often complained when they were defendants in patent cases in the Eastern District, but now find themselves choosing that venue when they want to enforce their patent rights, Munck said.

"This is an indication that it's not plaintiff-friendly," he said. "It's patent-friendly."

The Eastern District of Texas has knowledgeable judges who work in patent law all the time, along with streamlined procedures for getting cases resolved relatively quickly, Munck said. "You're not teaching a judge patent law. These guys know it. They live it."

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/10/19/story10.html

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