| Patent Troll Tracker Blogger Leaves Cisco for Wilson Sonsini
August 08, 2008
It seemed like they had a good thing going last fall, but it's all over now.
Cisco Systems IP lawyer Richard Frenkel had just posted on his anonymous Patent Troll Tracker blog, skewering two Texas lawyers and a court clerk for allegedly fudging documents to "manufacture subject matter jurisdiction" in ESN's patent infringement suit against Cisco.
Frenkel dashed off an e-mail to John Noh, a senior public relations manager at Cisco, with a link to the post, since Noh and Mallun Yen, Cisco's top patent lawyer, had suggested Frenkel blog about the case, Cisco has since admitted in court documents. Noh responded to Frenkel the same day, Oct. 18, 2007, with an e-mail also copied to Yen that said "brilliant."
Since then, Frenkel has unmasked himself as the anonymous blogger who scrutinized so-called "patent trolls" and their litigation tactics for nearly a year on the now-defunct Troll Tracker. Cisco, Frenkel, Yen and Noh were named as defendants in defamation suits filed by two Texas lawyers representing ESN who were mentioned in the blog.
And as of this week, neither Frenkel nor Noh can be found at Cisco.
Frenkel joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati on Aug. 4 as of counsel in its intellectual property litigation practice, as first reported last Monday on the The Prior Art blog. Noh joined Brocade Communications in late May as senior director of public and analyst relations.
Frenkel says his decision to leave Cisco for Wilson Sonsini "wasn't a direct result of the blog blowup." Instead, the former Irell & Manella associate says he got the patent-litigation itch again.
"One of the fallouts of the blog is that it renewed my interest in patent litigation," Frenkel says. "I started to realize it really was my primary interest in patent law, and that's really what made me interested in looking around, and Wilson Sonsini is one of the most prestigious law firms in the Bay Area."
Cisco says in a statement that it wishes him well, adding that Frenkel "voluntarily left Cisco to pursue an opportunity with a prestigious Silicon Valley law firm," but declines to comment on whether the Troll Tracker situation had anything to do with it.
Michael Ladra, a senior partner in Wilson's IP group, says he's glad to have Frenkel on board. Ladra says he thought the controversy over the blog was "overblown," and that Frenkel has a lot of insight into the blog's subject matter.
"He's a very bright, talented guy," Ladra says. "He came from Cisco, and he understands the patent litigation business as it's currently practiced with a lot of what are now euphemistically called nonpracticing entities."
Frenkel, 41, worked as an associate with Lyon & Lyon and Irell before going in-house at Cisco in 2006, where he became director of intellectual property for consumer and emerging technologies. He started the blog in 2007.
"I think it's a win-win - it gives everybody a fresh start," says Edward Reines, a Weil, Gotshal & Manges litigator who knows Frenkel. "I think Wilson Sonsini will be rewarded for hiring Rick - he's very bright, he's an excellent lawyer."
Cisco also says that Noh left the company voluntarily to take the job at Brocade. Noh says the Troll Tracker issues had "absolutely not" played a role in his decision to leave. "This was a great career opportunity for me, and it was too good to pass up," Noh says.
The departure of Noh and Frenkel doesn't change anything for the defamation suits in Texas and Arkansas, say lawyers for Eric Albritton and T. John "Johnny" Ward Jr., the two Texas lawyers claiming to be defamed.
"This won't change our plans at all," says James Holmes, Albritton's lawyer.
Albritton and Ward allege that Frenkel's assertions on the blog are untrue and defamatory. Cisco has promised to fight the suits, which are still in their beginning stage.
Ward moved to dismiss Frenkel as a defendant from his suit in April because, as Ward's lawyer Nick Patton puts it: "It's now admitted that he was an agent of Cisco when all this occurred."
Frenkel's blog was required reading for many patent litigators who looked to the blog for keen analysis of patent holding companies, but they haven't been able to get their fix since Frenkel's February unmasking. Though Frenkel said in court documents at the beginning of April that he would return to blogging, he has since decided otherwise.
"Back in late April, I made the decision that I was done with it," Frenkel says. "I'm focused on litigating patent cases and helping Wilson's clients now."
Zusha Elinson is a reporter with The Recorder, a San Francisco affiliate of Texas Lawyer in which this article originally appeared.
