Supplemental Jurisdiction

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Kosten v. Kosten, No. 16 C 6666, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Dec. 14, 2016) (Kennelly, J.).

Judge Kennelly denied in part defendant’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) motion to dismiss plaintiff’s state law claims in this case involving copyright claims and generally relating to the sale of the parties’ Garden Row sauce business.

While…

PSN Pharma, LLC v. Niazi, No. 14 C 6865, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Apr. 1, 2016) (Coleman, J.).

Judge Coleman granted declaratory judgment defendant’s (“Defendant”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction after providing declaratory judgment plaintiffs (collectively “PSN Pharma”) a covenant not to sue on the…

Galvin v. Ill. Republican Party, No. 14 C 10490, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Oct. 20, 2015) (Zagel, J.).

Judge Zagel dismissed plaintiff’s remaining state law claims for appropriation of image, false light, defamation and civil conspiracy for lack of supplemental jurisdiction. The Court had already dismissed plaintiffs’ copyright claims, and the parties had dismissed…

International Tax Advisors, Inc. v. Tax Law Assocs., LLC, No. 08 C 2222, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 15, 2011) (Valdez, Mag. J.)
Judge Valdez denied plaintiffs’ (collectively “ITA”) motion for summary judgment, and granted defendants’ (collectively “TLA”) motion for summary judgment as to ITA’s copyright claim, and chose not to retain supplemental jurisdiction over ITA’s remaining state law claims. While ITA may have had evidence to support its copyright claim, it did not properly cite to that evidence via its Local Rule 56.1 statement of uncontested material facts. And to the extent ITA cited directly to evidence it did so generally by description, without exhibit numbers or specific page cites.
The Court granted TLA summary judgment of noninfringement because ITA did not properly cite to facts in its Local Rule 56.1 statement showing a question of material fact.
The Court also granted TLA summary judgment as to ITA’s RICO claim because ITA only alleged one of the required two predicate acts.
Finally, the Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining claims.
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Continue Reading Summary Judgment Granted Based Upon Failure to Comply With Rule 56.1

Von Holdt v. A-1 Tool, No. 04 C 4123, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 18, 2010) (Manning, J.).
Judge Manning, having granted in part plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration, decided to maintain supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ remaining state law claims despite having granted defendants summary judgment as to plaintiffs’ federal patent infringement and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) claims. Plaintiffs’ state law claims – trade secret, tortious interference and breach of fiduciary duty claims – were “loosely” connected to plaintiffs’ CFAA claim because they were based upon the alleged theft of plaintiffs’ confidential information by a former employee.
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Continue Reading Loosely Related State Law Claims Sufficient for Supplemental Jurisdiction

Von Holdt v. A-1 Tool, No. 04 C 4123, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 3, 2010) (Manning, J.)
Judge Manning granted in part plaintiffs’ motion to reconsider the Court’s opinion granting defendants summary judgment on plaintiffs’ patent claims and dismissing plaintiffs’ related state law claims for lack of supplemental jurisdiction.
The Court reversed its supplemental jurisdiction decision because Illinois law barred the refiling more than once of a claim that was voluntarily dismissed. Presented with the “new” fact that plaintiffs had previously filed suit in state court, the Court vacated its prior decision and ordered plaintiffs to brief whether the Court should retain jurisdiction over the state law claims.
The Court, however, did not reverse its summary judgment of noninfringement. On that Plaintiffs agreements were a “rehash” of its prior agreements.
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Continue Reading Court Reconsiders Supplemental Jurisdiction to Assert Tort Claims

Valley Entertainment, Inc. v. Friesen, No. 08 C 3470, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 17, 2010) (Der-Yeghiayan, J.).
Judge Der-Yeghiayan granted defendants summary judgment of noninfringement regarding plaintiff Valley Entertainment’s (“Valley”) copyright infringement claim regarding certain songs by the artist Raphael. The Court also granted defendants’ motion to strike Valley’s newly identified copyright, SR 107-850. Finally, the Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Valley’s remaining state law claims. Valley’s asserted copyright covered only words and arrangement of sheet music, but defendants’ alleged infringement was based upon the use of sound recordings of the songs at issue. Valley did not challenge this analysis, instead identifying a new copyright, SR 107-850, that covers sound recordings. But the Court struck that copyright because it was not identified until briefing of the summary judgment motion. The copyright was not identified in Valley’s complaint or in any of Valley’s numerous discovery responses as a basis for Valley’s copyright infringement claims. The Court noted that Valley was no longer free to update its discovery pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a) because the update would no longer be timely.
Having resolved Valley’s federal claims, the Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Valley’s related state law claims.
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Continue Reading Court Strikes Plaintiff’s Late-Identified Copyright

Strom v. Strom Closures, Inc., No. 06 C 7051, 2008 WL 489363 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 20, 2008) (Der-Yeghiayan, J.).
Judge Der-Yeghiayan granted plaintiff Victoria Strom’s (“Strom”) motion to dismiss defendants’ (collectively “SCI”) counterclaims. SCI filed an earlier suit charging Strom with patent infringement. The parties settled that suit pursuant to a Settlement Agreement (“Agreement”). SCI alleged that Strom breached the Agreement and was once again, therefore, infringing SCI’s patents. But the Court held that once a district court dismisses a case with prejudice, it cannot reopen the case for enforcement of a related agreement without independent jurisdiction. SCI’s appropriate claim was for breach of the Agreement, not patent infringement. Because breach of the Agreement was a state law claim and because there was no diversity (SCI pled that all parties were Illinois residents), the Court lacked jurisdiction. Finally, the Court held that there was not supplemental jurisdiction based upon Strom’s federal employment claims. Strom’s claims and the breach of the Agreement were not sufficiently related.
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Continue Reading Breached Settlement Does Not Create Patent Jurisdiction