I'm a Texan (10 years in Houston, 10 years in Austin, and currently residing in Austin), and I'm one of the most vocally anti-Texas people in this thread (though I'm not suggesting poisoning the water).
I'm just very frustrated. The future of Texas, just like the rest of the country (but very much so Texas), is technology. This one little town, and this one judge, seem to be hell-bent on destroying innovation. There's just so much wasted energy and effort, and it makes me sad to see the bad guys win so frequently (and these are bad guys; they've extorted millions from people who had no idea this really silly patent existed).
Agreed. As a fellow Texan, I'm embarrassed that this relatively small town has become the de facto venue for patent battles... especially those involving patent trolls.
How would we go about changing this? Surely the rest of the nation is taking note at the bias afforded to patent trolls by Marshall. I just don't understand how, especially in this case, they could have sided with the troll. Is there an economic benefit for the people of Marshall to side with the trolls or are they just completely oblivious when it comes to technology cases? I am completely dumbfounded by this Texas court.
Judges are elected in Texas, but I don't think that applies in the case of federal judges. The infamous T. John Ward retired a couple years back, but it seems like the tradition continues with whoever is hearing these cases now.
I think, in the end, there needs to be patent reform...which just got shot down before it ever really even got any traction. So, I don't know. Educating people about the harmful effects of software patent law and patent trolls might be a useful start. This is pretty obscure stuff to most people.
I'm just very frustrated. The future of Texas, just like the rest of the country (but very much so Texas), is technology. This one little town, and this one judge, seem to be hell-bent on destroying innovation. There's just so much wasted energy and effort, and it makes me sad to see the bad guys win so frequently (and these are bad guys; they've extorted millions from people who had no idea this really silly patent existed).