COURT TECHNOLOGY AND TRIAL PRESENTATION

The Court Technology and Trial Presentation Blawg features articles, reviews and news of interest to lawyers and other legal professionals. This blog is published by Ted Brooks, a Trial Presentation and Legal Technology Consultant, Author and Speaker. Ted's trial experience includes the Los Angeles Dodgers divorce trial, People v. Robert Blake murder trial, and a hundreds of high profile, high value and complex civil matters.

All materials © Ted Brooks, unless otherwise indicated.

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Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Litigation and Trial Presentation Technology

UCLA Extension is offering a brand-new online course, entitled Litigation and Trial Presentation Technology, which will be taught by Shannon Bales, of Munger, Tolles and Olson. I am always happy to hear of new and interesting opportunities to receive education and training in the technology side of law -- something that's just not that easy to find. Plus, online course access means you don't have to take the 405, the 10, the 110 and/or the 5 to get there (if you've ever commuted in Los Angeles, you know exactly what I mean. If not, you should probably consider yourself lucky).


I had the opportunity to preview the first couple weeks of his course materials, and can say that it does indeed look to be coming together nicely. Bales has been doing litigation support and trial presentation for many years, and has a wealth of experience to draw from. 

As a bonus, for those who are in the L.A. area, Bales is offering a "hands-on" lab session at his office. The advertised course fee is $595, and should be a great investment in your career. You can learn more about Shannon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonbales

If you happen to be in San Diego, attorney Jeff Bennion offers a similar Trial Presentation course at UCSD as part of the Litigation Technology Management Certificate program. Here's his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-bennion-2883aab

Also of mention, Litigation-Tech has again been named as one of California's Best Courtroom Presentation providers! Thanks to all who voted. There are many excellent Trial Presentation firms out there, so we are truly grateful to be named as one of the best.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

eDiscovery Trouble: Blackbird Technologies v. kCura LLC

Case 1:16-cv-00418-UNA   Filed 06/07/16 Blackbird Technologies v. kCura LLC (Pacer Link)





Just in time to be a discussion topic at LegalTech! Most anyone involved in litigation support and technology is familiar with kCura Relativity, including Blackbird Technologies. As I was reviewing recent (filed just yesterday) Patent Complaints this morning, I happened to notice some familiar names, prompting me to look a little deeper. This is breaking news -- not even out in the legal news sites yet. It seems Blackbird has patented some nice ways to perform a concept search, which they allege others have used in violation of their patent. kCura is "a developer and provider of an e-discovery system called “Relativity.”" There is a list of related complaints, including well-known brands such as Advanced Discovery, DiscoverReady, Innovative Discovery, TransPerfect and UnitedLex.

Here are a few highlights from the complaint:

COUNT I – INFRINGEMENT OF U.S. PATENT NO. 7,809,717 

14. Blackbird Technologies reasserts and incorporates herein by reference the allegations of all preceding paragraphs of this Complaint as if fully set forth herein.

15. Defendant is a developer and provider of an e-discovery system called “Relativity.”  The current commercially-available version of Relativity is Version 9.3 (“v9.3”). (Ex. 4 at 2).  According to Defendant, Relativity v9.3 includes various features called “products,” including an “Analytics” product.  (Ex. 5 at 1).  Further according to Defendant, Relativity Analytics includes a “[c]oncept searching” feature.  (Ex. 6 at 2).  

16. Defendant provides users with documentation instructing users on how to use

19. Defendant has directly infringed one or more of the claims of the ‘717 Patent, including at least claims 1, 10, 16, and 25, in this judicial district and/or elsewhere in the United States.  Defendant has directly infringed claims 1 and 10, for example, by using e-discovery systems (e.g., Relativity v9.3 in conjunction with a computer system) to perform a concept search with integrated keyword search.  (Ex. 7). Defendant has directly infringed claims 16 and 25, for example, by making, using, importing, selling and/or offering to sell a computer system, called an “appliance” by Defendant, loaded with e-discovery software (e.g., Relativity v9.3) capable of performing a concept search with integrated keyword search.  (Ex. 7; Ex. 8 at 1). Defendant’s infringing activities violate 35 U.S.C. § 271(a).

25. Blackbird Technologies is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that Defendant has gained profits by virtue of its infringement of the ‘717 Patent.

This could get interesting.