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False marking cases against multiple defendants severed into separate cases

By Michael C. Smith

Tompkins v. Able Planet, et al., 6:10cv58 (2/17/11)

Judge: Michael Schneider

Holding: Order of Severance

As readers know, the typical false marking case involves claims against a single defendant.  But there are a number of cases which involve multiple defendants, of which the largest (to my knowledge) in the Eastern District is - or at least was - the Tompkins case pending before Judge Schneider in Tyler.  This case, which involves six distinct products, each manufactured by an unrelated defendant, has nine defendants, including six manufacturers and three entities which are contended to advertise the products.  It was to have its scheduling conference week before last but bad weather forced its rescheduling, and Judge Schneider used the delay as a chance to reorganize the case somewhat.

On Thursday, Judge Schneider entered an order severing the action into six separate action, with each having one manufacturer and the advertising defendants associated with that manufacturer's "accused" products.  (Not sure how anyone feels about importing the descriptive term used for products accused of infringement for products accused of being falsely marked, but I'm tired of trying to avoid saying it).  The pending motions to transfer the cases were denied as moot, and any reurged motions to transfer were to be filed by March 16.  The scheduling conference was reset for March 2.

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on February 19, 2011 (boomark / email).