Robert Stier, Jr. Working to Fight ATM Patent Threats Effectively By Mobilizing A Joint Defense

Robert H. Stier, Jr.,  a seasoned trial lawyer (now retired), built a nationwide practice representing biotech, semiconductor and other high tech clients.  He never expected to be applying his skills in defense of banks.  But when Automated Transactions LLC (ATL) began threatening community banks in New England with expensive lawsuits unless they licensed a portfolio of 13 ATM patents, he saw a problem in need of a solution.  For any individual bank confronted with such a demand, there was no real choice: it was more expensive just to study the patents and analyze their claims than it would be to pay the nuisance-value licensing fees and make the hassle go away.  Bankers felt extorted, and they were justifiably upset with our legal system and its perverse incentives.