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Comment by andechs | Hacker News Reader

Just because something is a blatant ripoff, doesn't mean it's not a good investment. VCs are doing investments based on predicted ROI, not uniqueness. Lyft and Uber are extremely similar, but the particulars of the business are much more relevant to the investment opportunity.

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Sure, but neither of them was illegally copying aspects of the others' business. Business models are not protectable.

illegal or not is for the court to decide.

Are you suggesting that the article isn't describing an open and shut case, our that business models may in fact be protectable? As a former lawyer, I would say that neither of these is even a remotely close call (assuming the description is accurate).

Yes, that depends on how good are their lawyer argue it in court. Maybe they know something we don't.

Technically, yes. But practically, in cases so blatantly obvious it is fine to draw your own conclusion.

In one court case - where a company I had a majority stake in was the plaintiff - the defendant basically had to admit that they copied the code and content of our website. Their defense: 'we did not copy it from them, we copied it from someone else' (without specifying what the 'someone else' was). Needless to say that did not end well, we were surprised they actually went to court but since this was in a country where the loser pays the court costs of the winner that did not overly bother me.

Isn't that testament that their lawyer simply is not good?

Lawyers do not call the shots, clients do. So if a client wants to take a losing battle to court a typical lawyer will caution them but will not hand in their commission.

No client want to lose. Maybe they choose the wrong lawyer? Maybe they shouldn't just use 'typical' lawyer. Especially for difficult case.

That was about as unwinnable as they come. So no, that wasn't the wrong lawyer, that was simply the wrong client.

https://webwereld.nl/overheid/10591-webcamsites-bevechten-el...

(Dutch)

No case are unwinnable. At least not with that attitude. Look at the O.J. Simpson case for example.

He lost the civil suit. And the only reason you bring it up is because it is exceptional. The general rule is that the courts tend to get it right but there are obvious (and glaring) exceptions.

The quality of your lawyer will help in the gray areas, and may get you a reduced sentence in case of a criminal affair but in general you will lose if you go to court with a case where you were in the wrong. It's not a perfect system but for most cases it works out.

He win the criminal suit.

>And the only reason you bring it up is because it is exceptional

So you need exceptional lawyer.

>The quality of your lawyer will help in the gray areas

An exceptional lawyer will make seemingly black and white situation to looks like grey.

> in general you will lose if you go to court with a case where you were in the wrong

Sure, the point of court is argue that meaning of "wrong"

> He win the criminal suit.

You don't 'win' a criminal suit. The standards of proof in a criminal suit are different than the standards of proof in a civil one, because the punishment in a criminal suit is much heavier than in a civil suit (where the maximum is some monetary penalty, whereas in a criminal suit it is imprisonment or in some countries even death).

I really think your view of the legal system is somewhat theoretical, there is no such case that it can always be won given the right lawyer or argument.

He didn't get death penalty or imprisonment is a win to me.

The reality is legal system consist of human in various capacity, judge, lawyer, jury, even public opinion. Its all boil down to convincing these human. Given the right method or argument, you can convince any human. Sure some case are harder then the other but doesn't mean it impossible. Really really hard != impossible.

>there is no such case that it can always be won given the right lawyer or argument

What is your reasoning ?

Deciding it on your own before the court battle might save you millions of dollars of your own invested money.

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