On Monday, December 6, at 10 am ET, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), standing up for public access to courts and transparency in patent litigation, will urge a panel of judges to unseal documents that a notorious patent troll is trying to hide.
At a federal appeals court hearing that will be livestreamed, attorney Alexandra H. Moss, Executive Director at Public Interest Patent Law Institute, who is assisting EFF in the case, will argue that a judges order to unseal all documents and preserve public access in the case of Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Apple Inc. should be upheld. Uniloc is entitled to resolve its patent dispute in publicly-funded courts, Moss will argue, but its not entitled to do so secretly.
This is the second time Uniloc has appealed an order in this case requiring it to be more transparent about its patent litigation. As one of the worlds most active patent trolls, Uniloc files upwards of 170 lawsuits a year to make money on the vague and frivolous patents it holds. In this case, a Northern California district court consolidated five unrelated patent infringement lawsuits Uniloc filed against Apple. EFF intervened and filed friend of the court briefs in the case and advocated for public access after learning that Unilocs motions and exhibits were so heavily sealed and redacted that they were unreadable to anyone outside of the parties.
EFF has intervened on behalf of the publics right to an open and accessible court system, where anyone can view and scrutinize the conduct of players in legal disputes. If the public has a right to access by default, Uniloc must prove compelling reasons for secrecy, and it has failed to do so.
EFF believes Uniloc v. Apple crystallizes the problem of excessive sealing in patent cases and the court must preserve the open and accessible court system.
WHO: EFF Volunteer Attorney Alexandra H. Moss
WHAT: Oral arguments in Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Apple Inc.
WHEN: Monday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m. ET
WHERE: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC78NfBf28AQe3x7-SbbMC2A
For more on this case:
https://www.eff.org/cases/uniloc-v-apple