Perjury Re Real Party in Interest Warrants Terminating Sanctions

The court granted defendant's motion to strike a declaratory relief plaintiff's pleadings for its repeated failures to provide accurate discovery regarding its participation in reexamination and, thus, whether estoppel applied to its claims. "[Plaintiff's chairman] committed perjury at his deposition. . . . While [plaintiff] has attempted to paint [its chairman's] conduct as the result of ignorance or a breakdown in communication, the evidence of record reflects that [plaintiff] has purposefully thwarted this Court’s discovery Orders. . . . While it is possible that additional discovery and further postponement could alleviate some of the prejudice to [defendant], that is not the standard prescribed by the Third Circuit. [Plaintiff's] assurances that it is now ready, on its own timetable, to comply with its discovery obligations, after blatantly violating numerous discovery orders, is unavailing. [Plaintiff] has willingly made representations that are clearly inaccurate, including counsel’s repeated assurances that [it] did not have any documents relating to the reexamination, and [its chairman's] false deposition testimony regarding the reexamination. . . . [Plaintiff], aware of the significant implications of being found to be a real party in interest to the reexamination of [defendant's] patent, has attempted to thwart its discovery obligations, despite being given numerous opportunities to remedy its deficient responses."

Bortex Industry Company Limited v. Fiber Optic Designs, Inc., 2-12-cv-04228 (PAED December 2, 2013, Order) (Goldberg, J.)