ORLANDO – An ongoing dispute between two engineering companies regarding a patent infringement case has resulted in several back and forth efforts to fulfill discovery requests and determine who pays for attorneys’ fees.
A July 18 ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, denied plaintiff Twin Rivers Engineering Inc.’s motion to set aside an order awarding attorneys' fees and granted defendants’ Fieldpiece Instruments and CHY Firemate Co.'s motion to compel plaintiff’s response to post-judgment discovery requests.
The legal action, which involved several jurisdictions, began on Nov. 23, 2015, when Twin Rivers filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Texas against Fieldpiece alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,022,993 regarding an infrared leak detector; false marking under 35 U.S.C. § 292; and unfair competition under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act.
Twin Rivers amended its complaint, adding a claim for per se unlawful concerted refusal to deal and then filed a second amended complaint, adding CHY Firemate as an additional defendant. As stated in court documents, the Texas district court granted Fieldpiece’s motion to change venue and transferred the case to the Central District of California. Eventually it wound up in a court in Florida.
There has been a long history of postponed depositions with witnesses claiming illness and other problems. In his July 18 ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. Smith said, “Plaintiff’s refusal to respond to the interrogatories is unexcused. No motion for extension or for protective order was filed and the discovery sought is relevant”
“The motion to compel is granted, and plaintiff is to respond to the interrogatories in full, under oath, and provide all responsive documents within 15 days of this order,” Smith said in the ruling.
He also assessed costs of $750 against Twin Rivers Engineering.
In closing, the judge said that this file was opened to handle what was purported to be two emergency motions concerning the main case pending in California. ”The court was able to schedule a hearing in one day and issue an order on the motions, but since that day, a lot of time has been spent on inconsequential matters.”
He closed by saying, “The underlying action has been resolved and the time is long past to put this case to bed. The parties would be well served to stop the expenditure of additional fees and costs, on both sides, and come to a resolution on the outstanding judgment and the fees imposed by this order.”