Ned Heller – 1947-2018

I learned today that Ned Heller has died.

Edward Peter (‘Ned’) Heller III, 70, of Aptos, California, died Tuesday, April 10, 2018, at University of California-San Francisco Medical Center in San Francisco, California.

Edward was a patent attorney and chief patent counsel for Alliacense Limited LLC, and previously was chief IP counsel for Seagate Technology and Control Data. He served on numerous advisory boards, including the Board of Directors of Intellectual Property Owners Association, for which he was chair of its Patent Law Committee; and was a longtime member of the Board of the Inventors Hall of Fame. Edward loved history and politics and spoke about them frequently. He could speak for hours on such topics, especially the Roman Empire.

It was Ned who initially researched and briefed the constitutional questions at issue in Oil States. Heller represented MCM v. HP in a parallel bid for consideration of the Article III issues.  He loved to debate the role of scire facias within the 18th and 19th Century Chancery court of England.

Over the years, Ned posted hundreds of comments on Patently-O, his final comment in March of this year was typical. He wrote:

Government is necessary to protect rights; but once we have government, those in power can use that power to feather their own nests by favoring the interests of the few, and the powerful, over the interests of the public.

Our founding fathers understood this well and tried to disperse power, and to balance it.

Which is why Oil States is so necessary to patent law. Removing the courts from patent validity concentrates too much power in the PTO. Even if that institution were not corrupt at the beginning, having so much power inevitably will lead to corruption.

Thank you Ned! I will be looking for you on your next go-round.

28 thoughts on “Ned Heller – 1947-2018

  1. 14

    Always interesting comments from Ned. He was part of the landscape and will be sorely missed.

    And as Max Drei said, 70 is no age nowadays.

    And sympathy to his family should not be forgotten.

  2. 12

    Oh indeed. I haven’t regularly posted here in a decade, but Ned was an integral part of the comment section almost from the beginning. RIP, sir.

    1. 9.1

      He would not be happy.

      He would not be happy with the decision, and he would not be happy with Malcolm’s spin of what Ned “believed.”

      1. 9.1.1

        He would not be happy.

        Maybe that’s why he left for greener pastures. Nothing but love on the other side.

        1. 9.1.1.1

          I do wonder if some “inside information” found its way to him and that had a part in his departing….

          This decision would have left him apoplectic.

  3. 8

    I would often read the comments here to see how Ned had responded. To me, he seemed as much a part of this blog as Dennis. Patently-O without Ned is like the internet without Patently-O.

    Though I often disagreed with him, I always learned something from reading his thoughts, and I admired how he would scour other comments magpie-like to find nuggets to bolster his underlying argument.

    Godspeed Ned. And on behalf of all of his readers, thank you to the people in Ned’s life who taught and supported him in his long and productive career as an advocate.

    1. 8.1

      I admired how he would scour other comments magpie-like to find nuggets to bolster his underlying argument.

      He was tireless that way! Not bad for seventy.

  4. 7

    I posted the news here last night along with some thoughts (link to patentlyo.com). Thank you, Dennis, for putting up this nice memorial page. The quote from Ned that you posted is not only ironic, given the SAS opinion handed down this morning but it’s also quintessential Ned: plainly written, earnest, and compelling on its face but not without a bit of “lawyerly” massaging of the facts. For example:

    Removing the courts from patent validity concentrates too much power in the PTO.

    It took me about half a minute to figure out why this quote bugged me. It’s because “the courts” are not “removed … from patent validity.” Every patentee can appeal to the CAFC where he/she will have his/her day in court.

    Even if that institution were not corrupt at the beginning, having so much power inevitably will lead to corruption.

    Of course this basic truth about the corrupting nature of poorly checked power is also true for private entities, e.g., patent owners, as Ned knew very well (and, to his credit, never tried to deny). Even at peak cr@ziness when the tr 0lls were running off the leash, on steroid, the maximalists were busy attacking both the PTO and the courts as not being “patent friendly” enough. That’s the behavior that led to the AIA, which is filled with unfortunate compromises in favor of patentees.

    1. 7.1

      Maybe better to remember Ned and not argue with him.

      RIP buddy. I will miss our debates.

    2. 7.2

      led to the AIA, which is filled with unfortunate compromises in favor of patentees.

      Un-fricking-believable.

  5. 6

    It will forever seem unfair that cert was not granted in MCM, and instead he had to watch Oil States argue his issue while conceding several points he would not have.

    My thoughts are with his family.

  6. 5

    Of all the antagonists with which I sparred, Ned came closest to actually meeting the merits of the counter points presented.

    I had always suspected that he viewed his own duty of ethics as preventing the closure of discussions that would have resulted in admissions against the positions that he advanced (I suspect those positions to have been more than merely personal positions).

    I suspect that drive-by monologueing will become even more prevalent, and actual dialogue to become even more sparse.

    1. 3.1

      Setting aside whether or not that was a worthy hope, it certainly proved short lived.

    1. 2.1

      Hear, hear. Ned’s comments were often the best part of a given thread. I will miss his wisdom.

      1. 2.1.1

        Hear hear. One of the best. Certainly when it came to contributing to Patently-O. Stimulating content. And his old school courtesy was always a joy.

        70 though. It’s no age, these days, is it? Thoughts with his family and close circle.

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