Millennium TGA, Inc. v. Does 1-800, No. 10 C 5603, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Nov. 30, 2010) (Manning, J.).
Judge Manning sua sponte severed each Doe defendant in this copyright suit over alleged use of copyrighted materials via BitTorrent, except for one Doe IP address. And the Court granted that Doe’s motion to quash the subpoena.
The Court previously granted plaintiff leave to subpoena Internet Service Providers (“ISP”) to obtain identities associated with certain IP addresses – unique strings of numbers that can often be associated with a single computer or location. Plaintiff had met the Fed. R. Civ. P. 20(a)(2)(A) joinder requirements because it could not show that the Does acted in concert. Furthermore, the case in its current position could leave the Court with dozens or hundreds of factually unique motion to dismiss, quash or sever. And there was no indication that venue was proper. Plaintiff had no connection to Illinois, and it was not clear that any Doe did either.
Continue Reading Court Severs 800 Doe Defendants in Copyright Suit
July 2011
Stayed Patent Claims in One Case Do Not Remove Value of Consolidating Similar Cases
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Local Rules
Pactiv Corp. v. Multisorb Techs., Inc., No. 10 C 461, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 15, 2011) (Leinenweber, Sen. J.).
Judge Leinenweber granted defendant Multisorb Technologies’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 42 motion to consolidate a later-filed and related patent case before Judge Dow with the instant case. While the two cases asserted different patents, both cases accused Multisorb’s FreshPax CR device for creating low-oxygen packaging. And several of the patents claimed the same priority. Additionally, the two complaints used virtually identical language. And the fact that plaintiff Pactiv’s patent claims in the first suit were stayed pending reexam did not matter. Regardless of the timing of decisions, having two separate cases would still subject the parties to inconsistent rulings.
And transfer of the later-filed case was warranted to Local Rule 40.4. Both cases involved the same accused product. While the stay of Pactiv’s patent claims in the first suit complicated matters, it did not mitigate the value of consolidating and reassigning the cases before a single judge.
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Continue Reading Stayed Patent Claims in One Case Do Not Remove Value of Consolidating Similar Cases
Infringement Claims Against Corporate Officers Require Active Participation
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Pleading Requirements
Free Green Can, LLC v. Green Recycling Enters., LLC, No. 10 C 5764, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 28, 2011 (Coleman, J.).
Judge Coleman granted the individual defendants’ and Aslan Financial Group’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) motion to dismiss plaintiff Free Green Can’s trademark infringement and related state law claims. As an initial matter, the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction as to all state law claims because while Free Green Can pled diversity of citizenship, it did not plead that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000. Because Aslan Financial Group was only accused of state law claims, it was dismissed.
The federal trademark claims against the individual defendants were dismissed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) because the individual defendants were accused of infringement based upon corporate acts of defendant Green Recycling Enterprises, of which each was an officer. But in order to state a claim for infringement, or any tort, by corporate officers or employees Free Green Can was required to allege each individual defendant had actively participated in the tortious acts. Because there were no such allegations, the infringement claims were dismissed.
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Continue Reading Infringement Claims Against Corporate Officers Require Active Participation