Re:Patent Troll Lodsys Settles for Nothing to Avoid Trial
by mcherm on Thursday October 03, 2013 @07:40AM
(#6488225)
> Presumably in a loser-pays system you would be required to post a bond to sue if there was some question of your ability/willingness to pay.
Ah, so would the policy will be that those too poor to post a bond would not be allowed access to the courts?
Re:Patent Troll Lodsys Settles for Nothing to Avoid Trial
by bcoates on Thursday October 03, 2013 @09:24AM
(#6488685)
They already don't have access, they have to pay their half of the costs. We're talking about patent lawsuits here anyway, both parties are corporations so "poor" isn't really a meaningful concept.
Re:Patent Troll Lodsys Settles for Nothing to Avoid Trial
by hackula1 on Thursday October 03, 2013 @10:29AM
(#6489112)
Cash flow can be a problem in small to mid-size companies.
Re:Patent Troll Lodsys Settles for Nothing to Avoid Trial
by kamjam on Thursday October 03, 2013 @10:52AM
(#6489279)
Not in the UK, you may have to declare yourself bankrupt or sell your house or whatever, but nothing required up front.
On the flip side, if you can't afford your defence the you can claim legal aid: https://www.gov.uk/legal-aid/overview
Besides, the ability to offload your legal exposure (as opposed to the risk for ordinary debts, where the creditors should have known what they were dealing with) onto shell companies is exaggerated.