Lawyer's tech tools track litigation, predict chances of success before patent board
A patent lawyer frustrated with the ability to track cases related to the suit against his client turned to his previous experience as a software engineer for an answer.
Lawyer Michael Sander built an automated alert tool to notify lawyers about case developments and created a legal technology firm, Docket Alarm, in 2011 to offer the service, Wired reports. Now Sander’s company is offering a new predictive tool for lawyers with cases before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Sander created the new tool after he and his colleagues noticed that some judges on the PTAB were rejecting more patents than others. The tool predicts chances of success based on the judge’s handling of similar cases. “The tool can predict how a judge will rule,” a press release says, “and identify hidden trends and potential biases.”
Sander told Wired he developed his tech products to fill a void. “I couldn’t believe that we were technology attorneys without good technology of our own,” Sander said. “So I created hacks that, over time, turned into real products.”
