Consent Judgment Should Not Make Findings as to Contested Issues in Related Proceedings

The magistrate judge recommended that plaintiff's consent motion for judgment and a permanent injunction be denied without prejudice where plaintiff had pending lawsuits involving the same patent-in-suit. "The proposed judgment is troubling in that it asks the Court to 'confirm' certain stipulations between the parties regarding invalidity, enforceability, and infringement of the [patent-in-suit]. [Plaintiff] is correct that the parties are free to agree to resolve such issues as between themselves and that the stipulations would not be binding on anyone other than [the parties to this action]. . . . The problem with the proposed judgment’s wording, however, is that it does not just state that the parties agree that the [patent] is valid, enforceable and infringed by [a nonparty's] Accused Products but that the Court 'confirms' such findings. While the parties are free to agree on these issues, the District Court should not make actual findings as to issues that have not been litigated and are hotly contested in other related proceedings."

Trustees of Boston University v. Vyrian, Inc., 1-13-cv-11963 (MAD October 29, 2013, Order) (Boal, M.J.)