Partner Offers $10K Bounty for Blogger's Identity
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A Chicago lawyer who is being criticized, along with his law firm, in an anonymous Internet blog supposedly authored by a fellow attorney has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide him with the identity of “Troll Tracker.”
The anonymous blogger, who claims to be “just a lawyer; interested in patent cases but not interested in publicity,” has criticized Raymond Niro and his 30-lawyer IP boutique, Niro Scavone Haller & Niro, for representing clients who own patents but don’t necessarily make products. Instead, the firm earns licensing fees from users of the patented technology—and potentially sues users if they don’t pay up, explains the Chicago Tribune.
Although Troll Tracker claims a First Amendment right to criticize the firm anonymously on the blog, Niro says the blogger should take responsibility for his or her views. Plus, he points out, knowing the identity and affiliations of the blogger likely would affect the way that readers perceive the Troll Tracker’s critique.
“I want to find out who this person is,” says Niro, who initially offered a $5,000 reward in last month’s issue of the IP Law & Business (reg. req.) magazine, and has since upped the ante to $10,000. “Is he an employee with Intel or Microsoft? Does he have a connection with serial infringers? I think that would color what he has to say.”
Updated to add a link to the cited IP Law & Business article mentioned and to remove the word “trade” from that magazine’s description.
