FOSS Patents: Upcoming Wisconsin trial in Apple-Google FRAND case to be held without a jury:

I believe that FRAND issues are even less amenable to jury trials than the technical issues relating to patent infringement and validity.

That's interesting -- have we (rhetorical; the answer is almost certainly yes) gotten to the point that we need specialists to hear specific types of cases? So far, I think the quote above just suggests that we need really smart folks to hear these cases, and judges are, on average, very smart. But do we need technology and patent specialist judges? Pre-vetted specialist jury pools?

A very large part of me screams both are anti-American -- as in against the intent of the Constitution, which suggests in turn that the cases are what's wrong. If there's a problem without a solution, it's the problem that's bogus. If Joe and Jane Schmoe on the street can't understand what constitutes justice, should it really fall under the purview of our public courts? Would it really be so bad to either 1.) Have these guys sign some collective agreement that falls under a separate system of arbitration? 2.) Throw the whole patent mess out? So Samsung can make its own iPhone under 2.). Do we really care? (And I say that as an Apple stockholder.)

There is a growingly apparent disconnect between our courts and their subject matter.

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