SP Techs., LLC v. Garmin Int’l., Inc., No. 08 C 3248, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Nov. 3, 2009) (Pallmeyer, J.).*
Judge Pallmeyer denied the individual inventor’s ("Inventor) motion to intervene in this patent case. Inventor sought to intervene in this case arguing that the assignment of his patent to plaintiff SP Technologies ("SPT") was invalid because SPT coerced Inventor to sign it. The Court held that Inventor’s argument was unpersuasive. Inventor admitted signing the assignment, but argued it was under duress. But the Court held that Inventor could not intervene, even if Inventor could prove the duress. Inventor failed to explain why SPT would not adequately represent Inventor’s interests in the case. In fact, Inventor even agreed that his interests were aligned with SPT. Intervention, therefore, was not proper. Inventor was, however, free to pursue his claims in a separate suit against SPT.
* Click here for more on this case in the Blog’s archives.