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TiVo Bought Some Bull In Marshall, Texas (Literally)
from the or-was-it-the-jury-that-bought-it? dept
For years we've discussed how patent holders love to file infringement lawsuits in Marshall, Texas. There are a variety of reasons for this, but a big part of it is that the court and the juries there seem extra sympathetic to patent holders. However, when TiVo took Dish Network to court in Marshall, apparently it wanted a little extra something to help push it over the edge. So it bought some bull. Literally.
Two weeks before the jury handed TiVo a $74 million award, the company apparently "paid the record-breaking sum of $10,000" for a "Grand Champion Steer" right in Marshall, Texas. Oh, and they renamed it TiVo. TiVo's lawyers insist it had absolutely nothing to do with winning the case, but, still... why buy the bull? Apparently Samsung -- no stranger to patent litigation -- is also getting involved in "civic" causes in Marshall. There's a local celebratory event called "Stagecoach Days" in Marshall that has recently been (wait for it...) renamed as Samsung Stagecoach Days. Of course, apparently one jury consultant warns that this kind of thing can backfire:
"Buying a cow like that I think is bullshit. I think it's insulting -- the idea that people are so simple that something like that will influence the case."Well, somebody bought the bull...
Reader Comments
(Flattened / Threaded)
Pshaw
"Buying a cow like that I think is bullshit. I think it's insulting -- the idea that people are so simple that something like that will influence the case."
That's what Voir Dire is for.
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Re: Pshaw
"That's what Voir Dire is for."
And that's what jury consultants are for.
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If that is all it takes, perhaps the patent trolls should buy a bunch.
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Re:
If that is all it takes, perhaps the patent trolls should buy a bunch.
That would be called a "herd". City slicker, eh?
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Re: Re:
so I heard.
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Bull
A great bunch of cow-punchers, I'm for TiVo 100 per cent.
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Moo.
Moo.
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Perhaps it will be seen as jury manipulation and get the venues changed if you did it too heavily.
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Question
From whom was the bull purchased
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Re: Question
For whom the bull pulls...
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Usually, if someone purchases a "Grand Champion Steer," that indicates that it was bought at an auction at the end of a livestock show. The steer was probably raised by a teenager who belonged to 4H or was in an agriculture class. Just fyi for CleverName
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I grew up in the area around Marshall (my dad was actually assistant DA there years, years ago) - and can tell you that if anywhere in the world people are dumb enough to be influenced by something like this...
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Disgraceful
This is the most disgraceful things I've ever heard about *our* justice system.
To think, the American revolution was basically fought to rid ourselves of a government of foreign aristocrats. Who the hell do these stupid plebe crackers think they are serving by this?
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$10k seems like a bargin for a "Grand Champion" bull.
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Haha
"I got up early and milked the cow."
"The cow?"
"Yeah. She was shy at first, but I kept working her and got a whole bucketfull of milk."
"Son, we ain't got a cow....we got a bull."
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shocking!
I am outraged! Why cant they be like all the other tech firms (MicroSoft, Intel, Apple, etc.) and just bribe their senators, representatives, and Obama? But then that would cost a lot more.
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Bulls
Most bulls of this nature sell for far greater amounts. Ive seen them go for 50000 on up and in the hundreds of thousands.
Most of the money is given to charity or to the kid who raised it as scholarship money etc.
10,000 is a steal.
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Re: Bulls
No, it's infringement...
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BullSh*t!
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"Buying a cow like that I think is bullshit. I think it's insulting -- the idea that people are so simple that something like that will influence the case."
My bullshit detector goes off the chart when I read that sort of thing from that sort of person... like a politician saying they trust the voters to make the right choice... Total bullshit... they generally truly believe the exact opposite.
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