The general rule in patent law is that defendants can`t file a motion to dismiss until a ``Markman hearing,`` a post-dotcom procedure during which a plaintiff finally reveals to a judge the exact nature of the infringed claim.

Local rules in Marshall, meanwhile, ensure a brisk pre-trial process, meaning that in the 30 to 60 days it takes to reach the Markman milestone, plaintiff`s attorneys have ample time to comb through a defendant`s paperwork, e-mail, and source code, and turn the broadly written language of a U.S. Patent Office filing into the scalpel-sharp language a jury will understand.

The final result is a high-stakes version of some gambling card game: Given a choice between a $200,000 settlement and a $2.8 million trial -- which is the mean cost to a defendant of litigating patent cases in Texas involving between $1 million and $25 million in damages, according the American Intellectual Property Law Association -- most defendants choose to fold early and cut their losses.

``Once you`re named as a patent infringer, you`re there until you settle, get a summary judgment, or go to trial,`` says Tyler. ``If you combine that with an accelerated docket, it just raises the pressure on defendants.``

Such pressure leads to a new class of plaintiffs that Tyler and other attorneys label ``patent pirates.`` Essentially shell companies, they do little more than purchase patents with the purpose of squeezing quick settlements out of major technology companies whose technologies may overlap with the patented feature