Troll Tracker blogger Rick Frenkel moves to Wilson Sonsini

Former Patent Troll Tracker blogger Rick Frenkel has left Cisco Systems and moved to Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a top Silicon Valley law firm, where he is of counsel. Today is his first day at the firm.

"We were impressed with his breadth and depth of experience," said Michael Barclay, an IP litigation partner at Wilson Sonsini and a PTT reader, natch. "Rick has developed a lot of knowledge and insights about patent trolls that will be helpful to our clients who have to deal with them."

Barclay described the PTT defamation litigation as "a private matter" that had no influence on the hiring decision. Frenkel's bio is up on the Wilson Sonsini website. A Cisco Systems spokesman said the company doesn't generally comment on personnel matters, adding only: "Rick voluntarily left Cisco to pursue an opportunity with a prestigious Silicon Valley law firm. We wish him well in his new endeavors."

Frenkel started the anonymous PTT blog while he was an in-house attorney at Cisco; in February, he revealed his identity under duress, and was subsequently sued for defamation by two big players in the East Texas patent litigation scene, Eric Albritton and Johnny Ward Jr. The two lawsuits name both Cisco Systems and Frenkel personally as defendants; they started in state court but have since moved into federal courts in Arkansas and Texas.

In an e-mailed response, Frenkel had no comment on his move or the pending litigation, but did say that he has "no plans to return to blogging at this time." That's a contrast to four months ago, when Frenkel declared in a court filing that he "intend[s] to resume the publication in the near future, after taking time to attend to some of the legal matters that need my immediate attention."

UPDATE: In court documents, Cisco admits at least two other employees knew about the PTT blog, Zusha Elinson reports. One of them, like Frenkel, has left the company.

Photo courtesy of a friend of Rick Frenkel

Comments

[anonymous]

The world has no need for "good-intentioned" deceivers, with selfish-ambition and a myopic view of the world ("what's good for me is good for you"). It needs honest men and women, who can see beyond what they feel with their hands. Unfortunately, Rick Frenkel (like many in the current patent wars) has apparently not learned this yet. Until he does, poor Rick. And poorer us, because of Rick.

[anonymous]

P.S. Rick, that's not to say the world doesn't need you - we do! And with your knowledge you can do a lot of good, for even for the patent system. But the ends don't justify the means, and you need to look at the whole system when "pushing" change, rather than just the client.

The comment above seems rather strange to me. - I was a fan of the PTT blog, and thought Rick had contributed an lot to our understanding of those who abuse patent law for personal gain. As for the insinuation that he was not honest, that's just a cheap attempt at character assassination.

Good luck in your new position Rick!

[Joe]

If you want to assassinate his character, at least put your own name to it, "anonymous."

The Patent Troll Tracker was a valuable resource. I find those threatening his job over it despicable. He posted nothing untrue that I can find, even knowing what I know now about him.

[Joe Mullin]

Thanks to all for the comments.

Just for clarity, the "Joe" above is not me; I use my full name in all comments I write here.

But this is a good place for me to add, I also was a fan of the PTT blog, if that's not already obvious to readers. All of Rick's reporting was based on public documents, so I don't understand how that could be seen as deceptive.