Over the last five or more years, the Northern District has become the epicenter of intellectual property cases filed against an anonymous list of alleged infringers – often referred to as Doe defendants or Schedule A defendants – typically targeting online sellers of allegedly knock-off products. In fact, 83% of the Schedule A cases filed
Web-Based Personal Jurisdiction Requires at Least a Sale into Illinois
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Jurisdiction
Unicolors, Inc. v. Shewin Flagship Shops, No. 24 C 2987, (N.D. Ill. Oct. 24, 2024) (Gottschall, J.).
Judge Gottschall, in this Schedule A case, held that the Court lacked personal over defendant Shewin, a Chinese entity allegedly doing business on Amazon. The Court held that the Seventh Circuit requires more than proof of Shewin’s…
Reply Briefs are Not for “Sandbagging”
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Jurisdiction
Viahart LLC v. Partnerships & Unincorporated Assocs. identified on schedule A, No. 19 C 8181, Slip Op. (N.D. I.. Apr. 4, 2022) (Alonso, J.).
Judge Alonso denied plaintiff Viahart’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6) motion to reopen its case and to permit limited jurisdictional discovery in this Doe case involving Amazon sales related to Viahart’s…
Court Upholds Agreement in Face of Allegations that Defendant Did Not Enter It
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Injunctions
Benefit Cosmetics LLC, No. 20-cv-02552, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Mar. 28, 2022) (Wood, J.).
Judge Wood denied defendant Oxygen Ocean’s motion to set aside the parties’ settlement agreement in this trademark dispute involving plaintiff Benefit Cosmetics’
This was a Doe trademark case. Oxygen Ocean engaged with the Court and then was voluntarily dismissed allegedly…
Plaintiff Must Justify Anonymous Patent Suit Filing
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Pleading Requirements
Unidentified Patent Holder v. Does 1-24, Slip Op., No. 21 C 514 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 6, 2021) (Kennelly, J.).
Judge Kennelly ordered unidentified plaintiff (Doe Plaintiff) to show cause why the patent case should not be dismissed.
The Court noted that in many ways this was a typical “Schedule A” case in which a…
Patent Infringement Suit Alone Does Not Justify Anonymous Filing
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Pleading Requirements
ABC Corp. I v. Partnership & Unincorporated Assocs. Identified on Sched. A, No. 1:20 cv 4806, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Sept. 4, 2020) (Seeger, J.).
Having previously issued a show cause order, Judge Seeger granted plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint in this patent dispute naming the plaintiff, or the case would be…
First Amendment Associational Privilege Not Impacted by Identification of IP Address Owner
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Discovery, Pleading Requirements
Cobbler Nevada, LLC v. Does 1-28, No. 15 C 7538, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 15, 2016) (Tharp, J.).
Judge Tharp denied various Does’ motions to quash subpoenas to their respective internet service providers (“ISP”) as well as one Doe’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in…
Joinder of BitTorrent Defendants Requires Contemporaneous Download
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Federal Rules
Cobbler Nevada, LLC v. Does 1-37, No. 15 C 5282, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 25, 2015) (Guzman, J.).
Judge Guzman sua sponte severed Doe 1 from Does 2-37 and dismissed Does 2-37 without prejudice in this BitTorrent copyright case. The Court recognized the split authority on whether joinder was only proper if members…
Plaintiff Fined for Failing to Deliver Complaint Courtesy Copy
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Local Rules
Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe, No. 15 C 6841, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 21, 2015) (Shadur, Sen. J.).
Judge Shadur fined plaintiff $100 for failing to provide the Court a courtesy copy of its complaint as required by Local Rule 5.2(f) and the Court’s standing orders in this BitTorrent copyright case. Local Rule…
Bit Torrent Does Must Overlap in Swarm to be Joined
By R. David Donoghue on
Posted in Pleading Requirements
Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v. Does 1-14., No. 15 C 2924, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Apr. 7, 2015) (Shadur, Sen. J.). Judge Shadur sua sponte granted plaintiff Dallas Buyers Club leave to amend its complaint in this Bit Torrent copyright infringement case involving the movie Dallas Buyer’s Club. Citing its prior decision in Zambezia…