Litigation Ethics

USPTO Suspends Second Ex-Niro IP Attorney For 18 Months

It’s deja vu all over again: a second ex-Niro IP attorney has received an 18-month suspension from practice before the USPTO. Attorney Paul C. Gibbons, one of four attorneys from the now defunct Niro, Haller & Niro who were sanctioned for vexatious litigation arising from the firm’s representation of NPE Intellect Wireless, settled a disciplinary […]

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USPTO Suspends Former Niro IP Attorney For 18 Months Following Patent Litigation Sanctions

The fallout from the Niro, Haller & Niro law firm’s doomed litigation on behalf of Intellect Wireless continues.  For patent litigator David J. Mahalek, the most junior member of the Niro litigation team, the disciplinary shoe of the USPTO did not just drop–it kicked him in the teeth with an 18-month suspension of his law

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CAFC Finds Patent Holder’s Position On Standing “Unreasonable” And “Remarkably Weak,” Affirms Atty Fees Award

On January 25, 2017, the Federal Circuit ruled a district court did not abuse its discretion when it awarded the prevailing party’s attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285 based upon the losing party’s conduct with respect to responding to one particular issue in discovery. In National Oilwell Varco, L.P. v. Omron Oilfield & Marine,

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Plaintiff Gets Judicial Scolding: “If This Case Is Not Exceptional, Then There Are None”

It says a lot when the busiest patent judge in the United States calls a patent lawsuit “the clearest example of an exceptional case” he has ever seen. That is precisely what happened earlier this week, when Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas, who personally handles one-quarter of all patent cases filed

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Litigation Ethics: What To Do With “Hot” Documents

Litigators spend much of discovery searching for “hot” documents.  In this context, when we say “hot” we mean really awesome, or at least very good, documents.  Some documents are smoking gun “hot.” They might be summary judgment “hot.”  They could also be your-so-hot-I-cannot-wait-to-play-you-on-cross-examination “hot.”  You probably have a separate folder in your trial preparation materials

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