Posts Tagged: "David Barcelou"

New Hampshire Supreme Court to Hear Appeal in ‘Patent Troll’ Defamation Case

On the morning of February 14, the New Hampshire Supreme Court will hear what could be one of this year’s most important set of arguments related to patent ownership taking place outside of the federal judiciary. At 10:30 AM that morning, the Court will listen to oral arguments in Automated Transactions, LLC and David Barcelou v. American Bankers Association et. al. to determine whether the New Hampshire Superior Court erred by dismissing a defamation case after finding that the term “patent troll” isn’t necessarily pejorative. Automated Transactions and David Barcelou alleged that the defendants in the action made defamatory statements by referring to them as a “patent troll.” This exposed them to hatred, ridicule and contempt, which caused them to be ignored by automated transaction machine (ATM) operators across the country and injured their legitimate business of licensing patents that they developed and that were issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The appeal argues that the Superior Court did not examine the full context of the reference to the term “patent troll” when making its determination, dismissing the action before the plaintiffs were able to present any evidence or proof and depriving them of their rights to a trial on the merits.

NH Judge rules ‘patent troll’ not ‘necessarily pejorative’

In a breathtakingly disingenuous passage from the decision, Judge Tucker finds that not all definitions of patent trolls are necessarily pejorative. Are we really to believe Judge Tucker thinks the term “patent troll” is a loving and endearing term spoken with great admiration for inventors who spend tremendous amounts of time, money and energy seeking patents on their inventions? The reality is the term patent troll has been intentionally used in a derisive manner to belittle patent owners and manipulate decision makers on every level for over a decade. Large corporate entities that steal patent property rather than pay fair and reasonable rates to use the property have colluded to convince the public, press, Judiciary and Congress that inventors and patents are evil with a false narrative about patent owners. They use false “facts” that they constantly repeat, but which have been debunked over and over again.