State court stays license dispute having tired of posturing for MDL advantage
Rembrandt Technologies, L.P. v. Harris Corporation ,Del. Super., C.A. No. 07C-09-059-JRS, May 22 , 2009.
Slights J. Defendant’s Motion to Stay is granted pending the entry of a final order on the Markman ruling in the multi-district federal patent litigation.
The Superior Court states that it has nearly lost “interest” (in the adjudicatory sense) in this action and therefore stays the state court action pending further developments in the federal litigation given that the parties have used this license dispute principally as a device to gain strategic advantages in related MDL patent litigation. During the pendency of this action at least fifteen separate actions involving nine patents were pending (at one time or another) in three federal districts. Positions in this action have varied based on the changing tides of the federal litigation, most notably Markman rulings. In staying this proceeding the Court states that it will “no longer countenance posturing here for advantage elsewhere.” It notes the possibility that a stipulated judgment of non-infringement in the MDL, when final, could render the Superior Court proceedings moot or significantly limit the scope of the controversy.
