Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Two More Courts Sever Co-Defendants Accused of Infringing the Same Patents

The court granted defendants' motion to sever plaintiff's infringement action for misjoinder and sua sponte severed the non-moving defendants. "[Plaintiff] accuses the defendants of infringing the asserted patents in the same way, but not as part of the same transaction or series of transactions. The Court agrees that there may be common questions of law and fact because the defendants are alleged to have infringed the same patents; however, those common questions are insufficient to meet the first requirement of Rule 20 that the defendants have engaged in the same transaction or occurrence or series of transactions or occurrences."

GPNE Corp. v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al, 1-11-cv-00426 (HID March 9, 2012, Order) (Puglisi, M.J.)


The court granted defendants' motions to sever for misjoinder. "Plaintiff has failed to allege how any one Defendants' alleged acts of infringement are in any way related to any other Defendants' alleged acts of infringement. Plaintiff accuses over seventy-six products and product families that run the gamut from cardiac defibrillators, weigh scales, ultrasound systems, and equine monitoring systems."

Body Science LLC v. Boston Scientific Corporation et al, 1-11-cv-03619 (ILND March 6, 2012, Order) (Castillo, J.)

1 comment:

patent litigation said...

The AIA's change to joinder standards has proven to be a welcome development. There have already been several instances of this change hindering the operation of patent trolls (which was, of course, the intent). While the AIA is far from ideal, at least it contains a few winning provisions.