Lawyer drops defamation claim against EFF patent blog

A lawyer who accused civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) of defaming his character has withdrawn his lawsuit against the organisation’s “stupid” patent blog post.

On June 5 the EFF confirmed that Scott Horstemeyer, partner at law firm Thomas Horstemeyer, dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning he could potentially re-file a complaint.

Horstemeyer had accused the EFF of defaming his character in a blog it published called “Stupid Patent of the Month: Eclipse IP Casts A Shadow Over Innovation”.

The article said that Horstemeyer failed to fulfill an “ethical obligation” when he filed the patent application because he did not provide information about an earlier court ruling that centered on other Eclipse patents. The patent was described as “stupid” in the blog post.

Confirming the withdrawal of the complaint, the EFF said: “We are pleased that he [Horstemeyer] has decided to abandon his misguided and counterproductive litigation.”

But the EFF added it will be prepared to defend itself if Horstemeyer decides to “re-file the meritless lawsuit”.

Horstemeyer declined to comment.