Annual Judiciary Appreciation Luncheon to be Held on Thursday, June 26

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On Thursday, June 26, 2014, the annual Judiciary Appreciation Luncheon will be held at the Belo from noon until 1:30 p.m. Chief Judge Fitzwater will lead a panel discussion on Tips for Practicing in the Northern District of Texas – A View from the Bench (1.0 hour of CLE credit). The event is free, but attendees will be responsible for meals/parking. The event is sponsored by the Federal Bar Association and the Judiciary Committee of the Dallas Bar Association. Preregistration is required by June 20, 2014, which can be done at the Court’s website.

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“Afternoon at the Courthouse” Program to be Held on Thursday, June 19, 2014

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On Thursday, June 19, 2014, the Dallas Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the Dallas Association of Young Bankruptcy Lawyers will be sponsoring an “Afternoon at the Courthouse” program at the Federal Courthouse. The program will start at 2:00 and concludes with a happy hour beginning at 4:30. Many notable speakers will present, including Judge Lindsay and Magistrate Judge Ramirez.

More details concerning the program can be found here.

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New IP Cases Filed In Northern District of Texas

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Steven Callahan

Over the last several weeks, there have been many new intellectual property cases filed in the Northern District of Texas, including:

  • Encrypted Cellular Communications v. AT&T: In this case, the plaintiff asserts that AT&T infringes U.S. Patent No. 7,430,665, through the sale of AT&T’s Encrypted Mobile Voice system (complaint available here).
  • Beckett Media v. Miller Cards: Beckett sues Miller Cards for copyright infringement and for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. (Complaint available here.)
  • Choice Hotels International v. Superior Hotels of West Texas: Choice Hotels filed a lawsuit (available here) against Superior Hotels alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and various common law claims.
  • Flexible Innovations v. Ideamax: Flexible Innovations’ complaint (available here) accuses Ideamax of trademark infringement, false parking marking, and unfair competition. The products at issue relate to screen cleaners.
  • Flowserve v. ITT Corp. and Goulds Pumps: Flowserve accuses defendants of committing copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, conversion, unfair competition, and tortious interference with contractual relations, among other things. The case relates to alleged theft of confidential and proprietary information. (The complaint is available here.)
  • Frazier v. Entrepreneur Media: Frazer’s complaint (available here) asserts that Entrepreneur Media has committed copyright infringement relating to Frazer’s “crowd funding” original illustration.
  • Brian Harness Photography v. Forever 21 Retail: Plaintiff alleges that Forever 21 Retail committed copyright infringement through the unauthorized use of Plaintiff’s images. (Complaint available here.)
  • U.S. Green Building Council v. Leed International:  U.S. Green’s complaint (available here) claims Leed engaged in trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition, false advertising, and cybersquatting with respect to the LEED mark.
  • The Linear Edge, LLC v. Clark: The Linear Edge asserts that Clark has committed trade dress infringement, false designation of origin, dilution, and unfair competition through the sale of knock-off goods (i.e., sculptures of world-famous racetracks). (Complaint available here.)
  • Mary Kay v. Ageless Concepts and WG Products: Mary Kay claims that defendants committed trademark infringement through the unauthorized use of Mary Kay’s JOURNEY trademark. (Complaint available here.)
  • Sprint Solutions v. Roberson: Sprint claims (complaint available here) that defendants are perpetrators of an unlawful scheme to profit from the illegal acquisition and resale of new Sprint Phones and to prey on Sprint customers with delinquent accounts for their own financial profit.
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Judge Kinkeade Issues Markman Opinion in Galderma v. Actavis

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On April 17, 2014, Judge Kinkeade issued a 66 page Markman decision (available here) in Galderma v. Actavis. The opinion construed various terms in the eight patents in suit.

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Judge Means Issues Claim Construction Order in Williams-Pyro v. Warren Watts Technology

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On March 10, 2014, Judge Means issued an Order on Claim Construction (available here) in the Williams-Pyro v. Warren Watts Technology case. The Order has a good overview of the law of claim construction, and construes several limitations of the asserted claims.

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Judge Lynn Confirms Arbitration Award

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On February 24, 2014, Judge Lynn issued an Order (available here) in the The Decapolis Group v. Mangesh Energy Case. Judge Lynn determined that the arbitration award at issue would be confirmed, in the process denying defendants’ motion to dismiss. Defendants had argued that, because they had fully complied with the arbitration award, there was no case or controversy. Judge Lynn disagreed, finding that it was proper for the court to confirm the award under the parties’ contract and the Federal Arbitration Act. Thus, Article 3 of the Constitution was satisfied, and the Court had jurisdiction to confirm the award.

Judge Lynn also granted the Defendant’s motion to seal. Although there is a presumption that judicial records are to be kept open to the public, the public’s right to access court records is not absolute, and district courts have the discretion to seal documents if the interest favoring nondisclosure outweighs the presumption in favor of the public’s common-law right of access. Judge Lynn found that the award contained extensive findings of fact and conclusions of law, and that any public interest in the award is minimal and counterbalanced by the interest in confidentiality expressed in the parties’ agreement.

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Chief Judge Fitzwater Grants Summary Judgment In-Part To Choice Hotels

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On February 19, 2014, Chief Judge Fitzwater issued a detailed opinion (available here) that granted plaintiff Choice Hotels’ motion for summary judgment in-part. In particular, the Court granted summary judgment on all of Choice Hotels’ liability claims, but denied summary judgment as to remedies.

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Judge Boyle Dismisses Putative Class Action Brought By Consumers Against U.S. Hotel Chains and Online Travel Agencies

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On February 18, 2014, Judge Boyle issued a decision (available here) that granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by consumers claiming they paid inflated prices on hotel rooms booked online. Judge Boyle found that the Complaint failed to plausible allege “(1) a price-fixing conspiracy for the three antitrust law claims and (2) proximate causation for the consumer protection law claim.” Accordingly, she dismissed the complaint without prejudice.

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Judge Cummings Issues Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law In Hunn v. Dan Wilson Homes

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On January 29, 2014, Judge Cummings issued an Order (available here) resolving the parties’ claims and defenses in Hunn v. Dan Wilson Homes. Among other things, Judge Cummings found in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim, such that Defendants were entitled to the award of reasonable attorneys’ fees in connection with defending against such claims.

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Judge Solis Grants Motions to Consolidate in StoneEage Cases

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On January 28, 2014, Judge Solis granted plaintiffs’ motion to consolidate in the StoneEagle cases (Order available here). Judge Solis found that both suits were before the same court and involve similar parties. The suits also were “riddled with factual overlaps that touch every party no matter which case someone happens finds his name affixed on the caption.” Similarly, “[r]eviewing the causes of action asserted, both cases involve the same trade secrets and the same patents as well as secondary liability claims such as conspiracy and aiding and abetting which directly connect all Defendants.” As such, Judge Solis granted the plaintiffs’ motions to consolidate.

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