Business Litigation Report -- December 2012

In This Issue:

Firm News:

..Quinn Emanuel Deutschland Named “IP Law Firm of the Year” and “Patent Law Firm of the Year” by JUVE

..Intellectual Property Trial Lawyer Amar Thakur Joins Quinn Emanuel

..Jennifer Kash Named Among The Recorder’s 40 Women Leaders in Law

..Quinn Emanuel Holds “Demystifying U.S. Jury Trials” Event in Zurich

Main Article:

..Multi-Defendant Joinder Under the America Invents Act: Much Ado About Nothing?

Practice Area Notes:

..Sports Litigation Update

..Insurance Litigation Update

..ITC Update

Victories:

..Unanimous Affirmance of Trial Court Victory in Forum Non Conveniens Case

..Patent Victories for Motorola Mobility in Germany

..Summary Judgment Victory in Deep9 v. Barnes & Noble, et al.

Noted with Interest:

..The English Court of Appeal Decision in Toshiba Carrier May Lead to More Private Antitrust Actions in England

Excerpt from Multi-Defendant Joinder Under the America Invents Act: Much Ado About Nothing? -

In September 2011, Congress passed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”), which implemented a number of changes to the U.S. patent system. Notably, Congress took aim at a proliferation of patent infringement suits strategically directed to multiple unrelated defendants. In many of these cases, often the only fact common to the various defendants was that they were being sued for infringing the plaintiff’s patent. Prior to the passage of the AIA, joinder issues in patent infringement suits had been governed by Rule 20 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and a minority of jurisdictions (primarily, the Eastern District of Texas) had followed an interpretation of Rule 20 that allowed plaintiffs to successfully maintain multidefendant patent suits involving many unrelated defendants.