Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick


Filed Under:
gps, lawsuits, patents, scott harris




Scott Harris Back To Suing Over Patent Infringement

from the gotta-make-a-living-somehow,-huh? dept

We had just mentioned Scott Harrison recently as an extreme example of patent attorneys getting their own patents and suing. In Harris' case, the trouble began when it was discovered that he (through a shell company) was even filing patent infringement lawsuits against some of the clients of his own law firm. He was fired and a lawsuit quickly followed. That lawsuit was settled just last month, and Harris wasted little time suing more companies over his patents. In this case, the patents in question involved a system and a method for making use of traffic data on a GPS system. He's sued eight GPS makers, claiming there are "a lot of companies are infringing my patent."

Interestingly, he also notes: "When I thought of this and tried to put it into practice, it was pure science fiction." That would seem to raise questions about the legitimacy of his patents. If it was pure science fiction, then it would suggest that he wasn't able to put it into practice (and, certainly, he does not seem to be actively engaged in the market). If that's the case, then he would have effectively just patented "science fiction" and is now suing the companies that actually figured out how to turn science fiction into reality. Since they're the ones who made the leap (and took the risk in building the products and bringing them to market), why should Harris get to put a tax on them?

13 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. by Scott Harris - Sep 17th, 2008 @ 10:08pm

    Go to hell you guys.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Re:

    by Anonymous Coward - Sep 17th, 2008 @ 10:50pm

    Priceless

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. by Anonymous Coward - Sep 17th, 2008 @ 10:58pm

    I think this is really sad. This guy must be a real slime ball with absolutely no moral or ethical values. This sounds like he would murder his mother to make a buck. People like this disgust me and they give all attorney's a bad name (well worse than they already do)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. by jFive - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 1:26am

    Ahhh lawyers, aren't they just the best. And to think, these are the people who pretty much make all the desicions in Washington.


    May they all burn in hell.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. Re:

    by Scott Harris (Isaac K) - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 6:19am

    Also, you should note that I have a patent on conveying useful technological and legal data in digital format over existing wiring infrastructure and presenting it in a chrono-linear format by subject. I patented it in 1937, tried to put it into practice, but it was pure science fiction.

    So you can expect to be hearing from me about this thieving "blog" of yours.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. Mikey is back to talking nonsense about patent system

    by angry dude - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 6:30am

    From: "I don't have a clue but still write a shitty techdirt article" department

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Re: Mikey is back to talking nonsense about patent system

    by Anonymous Coward - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 6:47am

    Crawl back under that rock.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. Re: Mikey is back to talking nonsense about patent system

    by *angry dude - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 7:09am

    It's an amazing rant script, isn't it?
    You'd almost think there was an actual person making these comments.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. Re: Mikey is back to talking nonsense about patent system

    by Cygnus - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 7:11am

    Wow, that's pretty harsh. I rag on Mike when he's wrong, too, but he is probably correct here.

    The basic requirement for an enforceable patent claim is that it enables one of ordinary skill in the relevant art to make and use the invention without undue experimentation.

    If Scott Harris is calling his claims "science fiction", it doesn't seem to me even he thinks that standard has been met.

    Consider this claim, "A teleporter device comprising a first unit on which an item to be teleported resides, a second unit where on the item that has been teleported resides, and a means for deconstructing the item as it resides on the first unit, transmitting said deconstructed item from said first unit to said second unit, and reconstructing said item on said second unit."

    Depending upon the body of the patent, that may actually be a valid claim. I doubt it, though.

    Of course, one might think that a patent application which fails the enabling test would not mature into a patent, but it happens all the time.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  10. Re: Re:

    by Scott Harris (Isaac K) - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 7:29am

    Also, about this "interweb" thing you are pirating from me, the legitimate patent owner...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  11. from "I despise you all department"

    by angry dude - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 8:19am

    Freaking techdirt punks

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  12. Re: from "I despise you all department"

    by JustMe - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 10:36am

    I am hardly a punk. However, I wonder about you. Why keep coming back here if not for some deep seated need to be abused. Seek counseling.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  13. Re: Re: from "I despise you all department"

    by angry dude - Sep 18th, 2008 @ 5:21pm

    Shitting break, dude
    What do you do when you shit ?
    Read newspapers I guess
    Well I post shitty comments on techdirt

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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