Non-Participation Leads to Admission of Jurisdiction & a Judgment

Posted on March 10, 2008 by R. David Donoghue

Gabbanelli Accordions & Imports, L.L.C. v. Italo-Am. Accordion Mfg. Co. et al., No. 02 C 4048, 2008 WL 351860 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 8, 2008) (Zagel, J.)*

Judge Zagel granted plaintiff summary judgment of trademark and trade dress infringement regarding plaintiff’s “wildly colorful” and “heavily ornamental” accordions. The Court awarded plaintiff approximately $500,000 in damages, attorneys fees and costs. Defendants – Italian entities that sold accordions in the United States – chose not to participate in the case. Instead, they filed an Italian case after this case was filed, but before defendants were served pursuant to the Hague Convention. The Court previously stayed a portion of the case pending the outcome of the Italian case, but noted that the stay may have been a mistake. Years after filing, the Italian case had not been resolved and defendants failed to participate in the U.S. proceeding based upon a belief that the Italian proceeding controlled. For example, defendants admitted personal jurisdiction when they failed to respond to jurisdictional Requests for Admission and instead of filing a motion to dismiss, defendants sent the Court an unsupported letter listing their complaints with the case and the Court’s jurisdiction over them. By failing to participate in discovery and not following the Court’s rules, defendants preempted whatever ability they might have had to make their case.

Practice tip: Participate and play by the rules. Even if you cannot or will not afford counsel, you must answer discovery, respond to motions and appear when required to. Failing to participate will not insulate you from judgment.

* Click here for more on this case in the Blog’s archives.

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Comply With Discovery Orders or Suffer the Consequences

Posted on September 21, 2006 by R. David Donoghue
Ropak Corp. v. Plastican, Inc., No. 04 C 5422, 2006 WL 2385297 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 15, 2006) (Valdez, Mag. J.).

Magistrate Judge Valdez’s opinion ruled on plaintiff’s Rule 37 motion for sanctions based upon defendant’s repeated refusal to fully meet its discovery obligations in this patent infringement dispute. The opinion demonstrates an important point: a party must comply with a court’s discovery orders (even orders issued by the most reasonable and forgiving court, as here) or suffer the consequences.

Defendant failed to sufficiently produce documents, answer interrogatories and respond to requests for admission after the Court, over a six month period, repeatedly ordered defendant to comply with its discovery obligations and repeatedly threatened sanctions. After each order, defendant took additional action, but it never fully met its obligations or the Court’s requirements. For example, defendant answered interrogatories by citing Rule 33(d), but failed to identify ranges of documents that were responsive to the interrogatories. After being ordered to fully answer or specify documents, defendant specified document ranges, but did not produce all documents responsive to the interrogatories.

The Court gave defendant a final chance to comply with the Court’s previous orders. The Court provided Defendant with five additional days to produce documents, and held that Defendant would not be allowed to rely upon any documents not produced by that deadline. The Court also deemed admitted a Request for Admission that defendant repeatedly failed to fully answer.

The Court also noted one of the paradoxes of document production: generally, when a party claims that its opponent has not fully produced documents, but that party claims that it has fully produced or just does not have any of the type of documents, the Court cannot be sure which party is correct. The Court concluded that it must rely on the facts available and the veracity of counsels’ statements.

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