Judge Abigail M. LeGrow will replace Judge William C. Carpenter, Jr. on the Delaware Superior Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division (“CCLD”) panel, effective July 1, 2018. Judge LeGrow was appointed by then-Chancellor Leo E. Strine, Jr. to serve as Master in Chancery on the Delaware Court of Chancery in 2011, a position she held until her…

In Goggin, a member of East Coast Miner LLC (ECM) brought suit against ECM’s manager and his associates challenging several allegedly self-dealing transactions. The plaintiff alleged, among other things, that ECM’s manager had caused ECM’s part ownership of specified assets to be diverted to different entities that the manager and his associates owned and controlled. The…

In Wi-LAN Inc. v. Sharp Electronics Corp., No. 15-379-LPS (D. Del. May 14, 2018), Chief Judge Stark denied the requests of the plaintiff, Wi-LAN Inc., to compel defendant Sharp Electronics Corp. to produce documents from a subsidiary and a parent corporation. First, Sharp Electronics argued that it had already produced documents from the subsidiary, a manufacturing…

In Genentech, Inc. v. Amgen Inc., No. 17-1407-GMS (D. Del. Apr. 17, 2018), and related action, Judge Sleet granted Amgen Inc.’s motions to dismiss the plaintiffs’ declaratory judgment claim for failure to state a claim and for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. According to the decision, during the pre-litigation BPCIA “patent dance,” Amgen had stated that…

In Interface Linx, LLC v. Onkyo USA Corp., No. 17-1099-LPS (D. Del. April 13, 2018), and related actions, Chief Judge Stark ordered the defendants to produce sales data for the accused products dating back to six years before the date of the suit. The defendants had resisted production of the sales information on grounds of relevance,…

In SZ DJI Technology Co. v. Autel Robotics USA LLC, No. 16-706-LPS (D. Del. Mar. 14, 2018), Chief Judge Stark granted the defendants’ motion to consolidate this action with a case transferred from the Western District of Washington. The plaintiffs argued in opposition that the two cases concerned distinct inventions with little overlap, but Chief Judge…

This update provides short updates on judicial decisions, trends, and notable events in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, traditionally one of the three busiest jurisdictions for intellectual property litigation.

In Princeton Digital Image Corp. v. Ubisoft Entertainment SA, No. 13-335-LPS-CJB (D. Del. Apr. 20, 2018), Magistrate Judge Burke granted the plaintiff’s request to compel defendant Ubisoft Inc. to produce summary sales, licensing, costs, and profit information relating to the accused video games and make available a Rule 30(b)(6) witness to testify regarding the requested information.…

In Boston Scientific Corp. v. Edwards Lifesciences Corp., No. 16-275-JFB-SRF (Apr. 20, 2018), Magistrate Judge Fallon denied without prejudice the defendants’ motion to stay the plaintiff’s patent infringement claim pending the final resolution of IPR proceedings. The PTAB had issued a final written decision invalidating the patent asserted by the plaintiff. The plaintiff opposed the motion…

In Interface Linx, LLC v. Haier America Co., No. 17-1098-LPS (D. Del. Apr. 26, 2018), and related cases, Chief Judge Stark, ruling from the bench, granted in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss the direct, indirect, and willful infringement claims of the plaintiff, Interface Linx, LLC. The asserted patent covered, inter alia, an HDMI plug and…