Weekly IP Buzz for the Week Ending October 11, 2019

In this week's post, we look at drones and Texas. Passed in 2013, the Texas state law specifically states that drones are prohibited from being used as “surveillance” devices, which means drones that are deemed to being used to photograph or record individuals, private property, or other “critical infrastructure facilities” are banned by law.  The National Press Photographers Association and the Texas Press Association have teamed up to sue Texas over what they perceive to be unfair treatment.  How will courts decide the scope of Texas drone law?

Also, an outline of seven changes to the NDTX Local Patent Rules that went into effect October 1, 2019, with Second Amended Miscellaneous Order No. 62.

Photographer and Journalist Associations Sue Texas Over State Drone Laws

The debate over Texas state drone laws and privacy has increasingly raged on since Amazon first made headlines when they launched multimedia campaigns that touted the introduction of unmanned drones into their delivery fleet.  With federal guidance lacking, state laws have filled the void leaving photojournalists at odds with Texas’ drone laws. 

While the jurisdiction of drones would typically fall under federal aviation law, the federal government has provided little guidance and practically no response to the many questions posed by consumers and attorneys alike.  As such, state law has often had to step in due to lack of federal response to many of today’s legal questions regarding drones and privacy. Unfortunately, one of the major wrinkles from having no uniform federal guidance is that states vary widely in how they regulate drone usage.  

In Texas, for example, legislators have chosen to treat the use of drones differently.  Specifically, Texas strictly limits the use of drones in some fields but not in others.  Thus, for big companies like Bell, Amazon, and Uber, their use of drones has not been restricted because their use often falls under exemptions made for commercial use.  For individuals or journalists, on the other hand, more personal use tends to be limited or straight out prohibited. 

In response to the drastic difference in treatment by the law, the National Press Photographers Association and the Texas Press Association have teamed up to sue Texas over what they perceive to be unfair treatment.  Specifically, their lawsuit alleges that Texas law’s preferential treatment to some companies’ use of drones over others’ violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of journalists in the state because it bans journalists from using the exact same type of drone technology that companies like the aforementioned technology giants are allowed to use.  Under current Texas state law, photographers and journalists are forbidden from using drones to capture certain types of footage over a variety of different sites.  

Read more here.

7 Changes to the Northern District of Texas (TXND) Local Patent Rules

This post provides a discussion of the major changes practitioners should consider in handling cases under the modified rules. According to the Second Amended Miscellaneous Order No. 62, the Amended Rules “will take effect on October 1, 2019, and will apply to any Dallas division patent case filed on or after that date. It will also apply to any pending Dallas division patent case in which, on the date this Order takes effect, more than 9 days remain before the initial disclosures of asserted claims and preliminary infringement contentions required by paragraph 3-1 is due.” 

Click here for more details on each of the seven items listed below.

1. Modification to the Case Management Conference — Local Patent Rule 2-1(a) 

2. Changes to Initial Case Management Conference — Local Patent Rules 2-1(b) through 2-1(d)

3. Adoption of Model Protective Order and Related Orders — Local Patent Rule 2-1(e) 

4. New Patent Discovery Dispute Procedure — Local Patent Rule 2-6

5. Revised Timing for Disclosure of Asserted Claims and Preliminary Infringement Contentions — Local Patent Rule 3-1

6. New Procedure to Address Amendment to Contentions After Production of Source Code — Local Patent Rule 3-7(a) 

7. Revised Timing for Join Claim Construction and Prehearing Statement — Local Patent Rule 4-3

For a redline comparison of the new NDTX local patent rules to the previous rules as well as more information, read our blog post, Northern District of Texas Adopts Amended Local Patent Rules Effective October 1, 2019.

Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.

For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.

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Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. He also co-founded Project K, a charitable movement devoted to changing the world one random act of kindness at a time, and publishes Thriving Attorney, a blog dedicated to exploring the business of the practice of law, productivity and performance for attorneys, and other topics such as law firm leadership and management, law firm culture, and business development for attorneys.

Click to learn more about Darin M. Klemchuk's law practice as an intellectual property lawyer.