A Troll's In-House Hire Derails a Patent Suit
When patent licensing giant Acacia decided to target the energy industry, it recruited an IP counsel from oil field services company Schlumberger. Big mistake.
April 27, 2015 at 02:06 AM
6 minute read
To take on the oil field services industry, patent licensing giant Acacia Research Corp. needed a lawyer who knew the business. It may have found one who knew too much.
In 2013, Acacia, a publicly traded company that is known as one of the world's biggest patent trolls, was in something of a slump. With its revenues in decline, Newport Beach, California-based Acacia hired a new senior vice president out of Houston, a seasoned in-house lawyer named Charlotte Rutherford, to help it exploit a relatively untapped well of intellectual property tied to the global oil rush.
But instead of leading Acacia to a big payday, Rutherford's hire forced her new employer to play defense. Acacia's Houston foray has become a cautionary tale for litigants and lawyers alike.
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