After getting sued for patent infringement by a non-practicing entity called Oasis Research, EMC could have settled, like most of its co-defendants. Instead, the company filed an appeal with the Federal Circuit and won a ruling that limits the ability of patentholders to name multiple defendants in the same complaint. Now EMC is heading back to the Federal Circuit, seeking a ruling that could ease the way for more cases to be transferred out of the plaintiff-friendly Eastern District of Texas.

The America Invents Act clamped down on the kinds of multi-defendant patent infringement suits favored by "trolls," but plenty of such cases are still pending. Now, thanks to a win Friday by lawyers at Orrick and Gibson Dunn, defendants may be able to split the cases into much more manageable bites, in friendlier jurisdictions.

Given that patent litigation brought by non-performing entities (n�e patent trolls) continues in full blossom, it's no surprise that Big Firm castaways are leaping in to get a piece of the action on the plaintiffs side. But representing trolls carries risks for lawyers who earned their patent pedigrees at defense firms, as a pair of decisions highlighted on Thursday.