JOHN W. SCHLICHER

PATENTS, PATENT LITIGATION, PATENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND

SETTLEMENT, LICENSING, ANTITRUST, LAW AND ECONOMICS

 

 

 

John W. Schlicher, Settlement of Patent Litigation and Disputes: Improving Decisions and Agreements to Settle and License, American Bar Association (2011)  

     

COMMENTS

 

      “This is a very sophisticated book about a set of very challenging and very important subjects.   John Schlicher’s illuminating analyses and comprehensive coverage of the dynamics of settlement in patent litigation are built on a unique blend of more than three decades of experience in practice in the field with a scholar’s mastery of relevant economic theory and social science literature. 

      Don’t let the sometimes intimidating appearances of the formulae and graphics that Mr. Schlicher's work includes deprive you of the rich rewards that this book offers to a wide range of readers.  The book identifies and tracks the economic implications of  a huge range of factors and circumstantial variables that lawyers, business executives, and mediators need to take into account if they are to make reliably-based decisions about whether and how to settle patent litigation.  Among many other purposes, litigators and their clients can use this book to construct comprehensive lists of matters to consider and alternative scenarios to explore when making settlement decisions -- substantially reducing the risk that their analyses will fail to take into account any matters of real economic consequence.

      One of Mr. Schlicher’s most valuable contributions consists of teaching us how to locate the range of possible terms of settlement that deliver net value to both parties.  By helping parties locate such zones of net value, good mediators and lawyers can provide clients with both the information and incentives they need to feel centered in their settlement decisions -- and to reduce the risk of unnecessary settlement failure.

      This book also presents, in compact form, information that lawyers and mediators can use to educate clients about what really happens in our patent litigation system.  There is a powerful ‘sociology’ of patent litigation -- a sociology that has remained constant for decades -- that clients who are not repeat players are not likely to understand.  Mr. Schlicher's book provides lawyers and mediators with a wealth of information about what really happens to cases that enter the court system -- information they can use to sophisticate their clients' perspectives and to increase their clients’ comfort with decisions not to push the race all the way through to the finish line.

      In sum, Mr. Schlicher’s book provides extremely valuable tools and important informational resources for anyone who might be involved in any role in patent litigation.”

 

Hon. Wayne D. Brazil, Berkeley, California, Professor, University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).  Former Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of California; author, Effective Approaches to Settlement, a Handbook for Lawyers and Judges (Prentice Hall Law & Business 1988).

 

      “John Schlicher’s book on the settlement of patent infringement disputes is a must read for practitioners who are involved in such disputes.

      Too often, settlement is viewed as a prerogative. One has to give up something that one would otherwise be entitled to in order to reach an accord. The book makes clear a settlement is nothing more than an agreement. Its value is dependent upon its terms - not its form. Schlicher points out the advantages that can be achieved by a settlement, when it is contrasted with the alternative of litigation.

      The book provides a most useful model of settlement decisions and walks the reader through the use of the model in various situations in order to reach an agreement.

      Supporting data and the applicable law are also supplied, which enables the reader to draft a form of settlement for his particular dispute. The book points the direction of accommodation which, depending upon the particular facts of each case, may be in the best interests of all. In any event, it is a primer that all will find helpful.”

 

Hon. Charles B. Renfrew, San Francisco, California, Former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Vice-President of Legal Affairs of Chevron Corporation, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, Partner in Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro and LeBoeuf, Lamb, President of the American College of Trial Lawyers

 

      “John Schlicher's new book, Settlement of Patent Litigation and Disputes – Improving Decisions and Agreements to Settle and License, is an in-depth ‘A to Z’ treatment of the subjects it addresses, and it should be studied - not just read, but studied - by all lawyers and business persons involved in patent litigation settlements and in patent licensing.  It lays out the economic and financial considerations applicable to virtually all patent settlement and licensing decisions.  If understood and applied by those involved in settlements and licensing it will lead to better decision making and more efficient and effective outcomes.  It should be in the library of every executive or attorney having a responsibility for such activities.”

 

Cecil Quillen, Richmond, Virginia, Research Fellow, Intellectual Property Institute of the University of Richmond School of Law, and Senior Advisor, Cornerstone Research.  Mr. Quillen is former General Counsel of Eastman Kodak where he was a Senior Vice President and Director