RFE&M Partner Quoted on Visto Corp. v. Research In Motion Ltd. Case
May 2, 2006 - Reuters

Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck partner Steven Lieberman is quoted by Reuters on the Visto Corp. v. Research In Motion Ltd. patent infringement case recently filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. On April 28, 2006, wireless e-mail firm Visto Corp. filed a lawsuit claiming Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) infringed four of its patents. Visto is seeking to halt RIM from selling its Blackberry device and e-mail service in the United States. RIM is the sixth company to be sued by Visto recently for patent infringement. On the same day the lawsuit was filed against RIM, an Eastern District of Texas jury found in favor of Visto in an intellectual property lawsuit with rival Seven Networks Inc.

• "The Eastern District of Texas is an excellent jurisdiction for a patent plaintiff to be in. It's probably the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction in the country," Steven Lieberman, a partner at Washington-based IP law firm Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, told Reuters in an interview. "In excess of 80 percent of cases that go to trial in the Eastern District of Texas are decided in favor of the plaintiff. So, at least at the trial level, Visto would appear to have a high chance of success."
• Lieberman said successful technology companies have always been the targets of patent-infringement lawsuits, but the trend has been exacerbated "by the fact that there are entities out there that are buying patents and looking for potential infringers."

For more information, please contact Steven Lieberman at 202-783-6040 or slieberman@rfem.com

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