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Comment by hipsterstal1n | Hacker News Reader

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hipsterstal1n·

It cost Newegg $60,000 to fight their patent troll. Gnome team is going to need a lot more then $20.

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I know, but $60,000 / $20/person = ~3,000 people. That really isn't that much in the scope of things.

> It cost Newegg $60,000 to fight their patent troll. Gnome team is going to need a lot more then $20.

Wow, that's all? That's actually really encouraging, if true. I would have assumed it was millions.

Even if that is correct, you still need to have a couple hundred grand in reserve in case the judge is a dumbass and you lose.

Donating to an open source project to combat a software patent troll?

I could already see this story making headlines in pretty much every tech news outlet there is. They'd get a few thousand individual donations for sure.

And sadly it will be the lawyers laughing their way to the bank.

Or will some of the money be recovered if the case is won? Thinking about it, wouldn't it be fair if you were more than compensated in case you won a lawsuit filed against you?

Aren't expenses for lawyers compensated by the losing party?

Loser pays (the English rule[0]) can apply in the U.S. but is quite uncommon. Most of the time both parties are responsible for their own legal fees[1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule_(attorney%27s_fee...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney's_fees...

> Federal courts also possess inherent authority to assess attorney’s fees and litigation costs against a plaintiff who has acted in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly or for oppressive reasons.

Patent trolls obviously act in bad faith.

He will not be the only one throwing $20...

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