Richard "Rick" G. Frenkel (born 1966 or 1967 Michael Orey

BusinessWeek, March 27, 2008. Consulted on April 4, 2008.) was an in-house

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

counsel and director of intellectual property at

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...

.Asher Hawkins
''Shut Up, Already!''

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

, March 11, 2008. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.Michelle Massey
''Patent troll tracker sued for defamation''
The Southeast Texas Record, March 13, 2008. Retrieved on March 15, 2008. He was once the anonymous author of the Patent Troll Tracker

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, focusing on the subject of "

patent troll In international law and business, patent trolling or patent hoarding is a categorical or pejorative term applied to a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or ...

s" and "a must-read blog among top intellectual property litigators".

Dispute

In October 2007, Frenkel posted anonymous comments through his Patent Troll Tracker blog about a

patent infringement Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...

case in which Cisco was the defendant. Frenkel claimed that the plaintiff, a company named ESN, filed a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

one day before the patent in the lawsuit was issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (which if true would have meant that ESN did not have legal standing). Frenkel also suggested that ESN's local counsel may have improperly convinced the Clerk of Court of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to change the date on the docket to reflect that the case was filed the next day. At that time, a $15,000

bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a gh ...

for his identity had also been offered Niraj Chokshi
''Mystery patent blogger is Cisco in-houser''
Legal Week, February 26, 2008. Retrieved on March 15, 2008. by Chicago attorney Raymond Niro Sr.

Litigation claims

After Frenkel publicly revealed his identity on February 23, 2008, in the entry titled "Live by anonymity, die by anonymity", the attorneys for ESN, T. John Ward, Jr., the son of

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...

federal Judge

T. John Ward Thomas John Ward (born April 17, 1943) is a retired United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He is best known for the large number of patent infringement case ...

, and Eric Albritton, filed

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

actions against Cisco and Frenkel. "The attorneys ereseeking damages for

shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

embarrassment Embarrassment or awkwardness is an emotional state that is associated with mild to severe levels of discomfort, and which is usually experienced when someone commits (or thinks of) a socially unacceptable or frowned-upon act that is witnessed ...

, humiliation, mental pain, and

anguish Anguish (from the Latin ''angustia'' "distress") is "extreme unhappiness caused by physical or mental suffering." The feeling of anguish is typically preceded by a tragedy or event that has a profound meaning to the being in question. Anguish can ...

. Further, the attorneys state injuries to their "business reputation, good name, and standing in the community, and

ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

be exposed to the

hatred Hatred is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is s ...

, contempt, and

ridicule Mockery or mocking is the act of insulting or making light of a person or other thing, sometimes merely by taunting, but often by making a caricature, purporting to engage in imitation in a way that highlights unflattering characteristics. Mocker ...

of the public in general as well as of his business associates, clients, friends, and relatives."

Issues

The case raised questions about the risks of blogging anonymously, and received wide publicity in the blogosphere as it was thought that the lawsuits could result in precedents to be applied to future

gers. Subsequently, Cisco updated its policy on employee blogging.

Trial

The Albritton case went to trial in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

on September 14, 2009. After Judge

Richard A. Schell Richard Alexander Schell (born March 10, 1950) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Dallas, Texas, Schell received a Bachelor of Arts degree ...

ruled that Albritton had to prove

actual malice Actual malice in United States law is a legal requirement imposed upon public officials or public figures when they file suit for libel (defamatory printed communications). Compared to other individuals who are less well known to the general publi ...

to be eligible for punitive damages, the litigation settled. The Ward case—which was filed against Cisco and not Frenkel—settled in January 2010.

Career change

Frenkel left Cisco in August 2008 to join the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as a patent litigator.''Cisco Blogger Decamps To Wilson Sonsini''
Zusha Ellison, The Recorder, August 6, 2008. Consulted on July 24, 2010. He was a

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

with the firm. At the time he joined the firm, he said he was done with blogging. As of 2022, Frenkel was a

at the law firm of Latham & Watkins.''Richard G. Frenkel Attorney Biography, Latham & Watkins''
/ref>

References

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)

Primary sources

*Ward v. Cisco and Frenkel Case No. 2007-2502-
(pdf)
*Albritton v. Cisco and Frenkel Case No. 2008-481-CCL
(pdf)
*

Dennis Crouch Dennis David Crouch (born April 30, 1975 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American patent attorney who worked for McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (MBHB) in Chicago, Illinois, until 2007.Dennis Crouch''Thank you MBHB, Hello Missouri!'' ...

''Troll Tracker, Defamation, and Splitting the Bar''
PatentlyO blog, March 12, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Frenkel, Richard Living people American male bloggers American bloggers American patent attorneys Year of birth missing (living people) 1960s births