Litigation: Managing Asymmetrical Lawsuits

Intellectual Property partner Mark Baghdassarian and associate Aaron Frankel’s article “Litigation: Managing Asymmetrical Lawsuits” appears on InsideCounsel.com. It is the first in a series of articles that will address issues raised by managing asymmetrical litigations, or David versus Goliath situations, and the strategies for how to handle them effectively and efficiently.

This article focuses on how so-called “patent trolls” (i.e., small, litigation-driven entities that file suit against large, multinational companies in an attempt to obtain settlements) employ a litigation strategy by which they prosecute the lawsuit at a minimal cost, while maximizing the costs to their adversary, and how the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has recognized the predicament such litigation has placed defendants in. In the series, the authors will explore the various strategies defendants in these David v. Goliath situations have at their disposal, leveraging their strengths and resources.