Richard Frenkel

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Richard "Rick" G. Frenkel [1] (born 1966 or 1967 [2]) is in-house intellectual property counsel and director of intellectual property at Cisco Systems. [3] [4] He was once the anonymous author of the Patent Troll Tracker blog, focusing on the subject of "patent trolls" [2] and "a must-read blog among top intellectual property litigators". [3]

In October 2007, Richard Frenkel made anonymous blog comments on a patent infringement case in which Cisco was the defendant. [3] On the blog, he claimed that the plaintiff, a company named ESN, filed a law suit a day before the patent was issued (which if true meant the case had no legal standing[4]), and that subsequently ESN's local counsel convinced a federal courthouse clerk to switch the date on the docket to the next day [3] (which would constitute a felony "which could lead to disbarment and imprisonment for an attorney"[2]). At that time, a $15,000 bounty for his identity had also been offered [4] [5] by Chicago attorney Raymond Niro Sr. [2]

After Rick Frenkel revealed his identity on February 23, 2008, [6] [5] in entry titled "Live by anonymity, die by anonymity", [2] attorneys T. John Ward, Jr., the son of East Texas federal Judge T. John Ward, [4] and Eric Albritton filed defamation actions against Cisco and Frenkel. [3] "The attorneys are seeking damages for shame, embarrassment, humiliation, mental pain, and anguish. Further, the attorneys state injuries to their "business reputation, good name, and standing in the community, and will be exposed to the hatred, contempt, and ridicule of the public in general as well as of his business associates, clients, friends, and relatives."" [4]

The case raises questions about the risks of blogging anonymously, [2] and is receiving wide publicity in the blogosphere as the lawsuits could result in precedents to be applied to future bloggers. [4] Subsequently, Cisco has updated its policy on employee blogging. [7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Patent Attorney/Agent database entry for Richard G. Frenkel. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Michael Orey, Busting a Rogue Blogger, BusinessWeek, March 27, 2008. Consulted on April 4, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d e Asher Hawkins, Shut Up, Already!, Forbes.com, March 11, 2008. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Michelle Massey, Patent troll tracker sued for defamation, The Southeast Texas Record, March 13, 2008. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Niraj Chokshi, Mystery patent blogger is Cisco in-houser, Legal Week, February 26, 2008. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.
  6. ^ Stuart Weinberg, Controversial Blog on Patent Suits Is Authored by Cisco Executive, Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2008.
  7. ^ Lessons Learned….Cisco Updates Policy on Employee Blogging, The Platform, The Official Cisco Blog, March 24, 2008. Consulted on April 5, 2008.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Richard G. Frenkel, Intellectual Property in the Balance: Proposals for Improving Industrial Design Protection in the Post-TRIPS Era, 32 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 531, 541 (1999) (pdf)

[edit] Primary sources

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