The only way that I could see the state of Texas being able to secede is by the same process as ratifying a Constitutional Amendment. However, probably very few people in Texas actually want independence. People who are mad tend to be the loudest. I suspect that few of the 25 million Texans actually want to give up their national rights.
The US is not a first to file country. We believe in first to invent. Prior art is always relevent as long as it is legitimate.
As for lawyers, they don't make the decisions. Judge's do. And judges very often have to follow case law and legal precedent in these matters. Many cases get over turned by prior art in software patents. This is often due to the fact that software was written without it being copyrighted and the fact that many never applied for patents on the software they did right.
The only way that I could see the state of Texas being able to secede is by the same process as ratifying a Constitutional Amendment. However, probably very few people in Texas actually want independence. People who are mad tend to be the loudest. I suspect that few of the 25 million Texans actually want to give up their national rights.