RSS
Inventor Involved In Patent Troll Tracker Lawsuit Arrested For Weapons Stockpiling
from the exactly-what-the-founding-fathers-had-in-mind dept
Sometimes you come across stories so odd, you just don't know how to classify them. You may have heard, recently, about the New England man, Gregory Girard, who was arrested for illegal weapons stockpiling in his home. The guy, who claimed that he believed Armageddon was quickly approaching, had recently told his wife both, "It's fine to shoot people in the head because traitors deserve it," and "Don't talk to people, shoot them instead." Not surprisingly, he's being held without bail for being too dangerous.
So, what does that have to do with stuff we write about here? As noted at The Prior Art, Girard is the inventor and claimed patent holder at the center of the high-profile patent infringement lawsuit that involved Rick Frenkel, who had been the anonymous guy behind the still greatly missed Patent Troll Tracker blog. As you may recall, Frenkel was sued for defamation in East Texas, after he had questioned the legitimacy of a date change on a patent lawsuit filed against Cisco (where Frenkel worked at the time). Basically, the lawsuit appeared to have been filed the day before the patent was granted and then, magically, the date changed. The lawyers involved suggested it was an honest mistake, but others suspected otherwise.
Either way, Frenkel's case settled, and (separately) the judge just recently tossed out the patent infringement lawsuit against Cisco that resulted in all of this, after realizing that it appeared that Girard and the holding company he had set up for lawsuits involving this patent didn't actually own the patent in question. Girard had developed the invention while employed by another company, which was working on similar technology, and Girard's own employment agreement said he would automatically assign any inventions over to the company. Still, during the lawsuit, Girard's lawyers tried to play him up as an All-American inventor:
So, what does that have to do with stuff we write about here? As noted at The Prior Art, Girard is the inventor and claimed patent holder at the center of the high-profile patent infringement lawsuit that involved Rick Frenkel, who had been the anonymous guy behind the still greatly missed Patent Troll Tracker blog. As you may recall, Frenkel was sued for defamation in East Texas, after he had questioned the legitimacy of a date change on a patent lawsuit filed against Cisco (where Frenkel worked at the time). Basically, the lawsuit appeared to have been filed the day before the patent was granted and then, magically, the date changed. The lawyers involved suggested it was an honest mistake, but others suspected otherwise.
Either way, Frenkel's case settled, and (separately) the judge just recently tossed out the patent infringement lawsuit against Cisco that resulted in all of this, after realizing that it appeared that Girard and the holding company he had set up for lawsuits involving this patent didn't actually own the patent in question. Girard had developed the invention while employed by another company, which was working on similar technology, and Girard's own employment agreement said he would automatically assign any inventions over to the company. Still, during the lawsuit, Girard's lawyers tried to play him up as an All-American inventor:
"Mr. Girard is exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they penned the Patent Clause in the basic Article I of the U.S. Constitution."But perhaps not what they had in mind when they penned the rest of the Constitution.
I have an idea...
From Noodles And Hot Sauce To Funding In 9 Weeks, With Oomf Founder Mikael Cho
75 Questions To Help You Write An RFP For Website Design
I have a business...
How To Successfully Get Your App Into China
The Talent Wars: Today's Toughest Startup Challenge
I’m looking for research...
Innovate More. Code Less: Optimizing Open-Source Utilization
Apps, Platforms, Consumer Use
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
HE knows were coming to take him away
To the funny farm.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
LOL
Infernal device, in my old house with my x wife that was the stove.
I'm guessing the tear gas was an incendiary device, but sticks as deadly weapons, lol.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
angry dude lives in a nice neigborhood in New Jersey and doesn't need a gun to protect his family from punks like you
He calls police instead
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
wrong state
He would be just fine on his own ranch in Alaska or Texas, but not in a condo building in MA
Of all crazy states MA is probably the craziest
Revolution is coming
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Of all the things I've ever read that you've said, the statement above makes the least amount of sense....
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
There are some nice places here in South Jersey... if you can afford them
Property taxes keep all the punks away
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
In time
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: wrong state
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Sure -missed by invention thieves.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Inventor Involved In Patent Troll Tracker Lawsuit Arrested For Weapons Stockpiling
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Inventor Involved In Patent Troll Tracker Lawsuit Arrested For Weapons Stockpiling
I didn't ask a question.
as it appears, you are a shill for the Ciscos
I am hardly a "shill" for Cisco. I have never done any work for Cisco of any kind and either way, editorial on this site has never been and never will be for sale. Why would I ever risk my reputation in that manner?
Furthermore, my position on patent reform differs greatly from Cisco's. But why would that matter to you when you don't want to listen and just want to pretend what I have to say is meaningless?
At the very least, you could report the facts fully.
I wrote what I wrote based on the original article. If you feel it is incomplete, take it up with the original article's author.
The court docket in Girard's case in Texas shows that the dismissal has been appealed to the Federal Circuit Court
Standard operating procedure, so why even mention it?
Cisco was fined $100,000 because of behavior during discovery by Charles Verhoeven, Cisco's lead counsel described by the judge as "predicated upon the presence of such factors as willful disobedience, gross indifference to the right of the adverse party, deliberate callousness or gross negligence".
Again, totally meaningless to the story, so why waste space on it?
Until you are my editor, unfortunately, I don't take writing cues from you. Sorry.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
http://patenthitman.com/
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Add Your Comment