Plaintiff’s Former In-House Lawyer Disqualified From Representing Defendant

The court granted plaintiff's emergency motion to disqualify defense counsel who had previously served as plaintiff's in-house patent attorney and performed work that was substantially related to the current infringement action. "During [counsel's] time as in-house counsel for [plaintiff], he was heavily involved in [plaintiff's] patents. . . . It is clear that [counsel] participated in [plaintiff's] efforts to protect its intellectual property, including its patents. . . . The court finds that [counsel's] former position as in-house counsel for [plaintiff] and his work performed on patents specifically, are not only 'similar or related' to the instant patent infringement action, but that [he] actually dealt with one of the [patents-in-suit]."

SHFL entertainment, Inc. v. DigiDeal Corporation, 2-12-cv-01782 (NVD January 16, 2013, Order) (Ferenbach, M.J.).