Order Denying Motion to Lift Stay,
Evolutionary Intelligence, LLC v. LivingSocial, Inc., Case
No. C 13-04205 (Judge William Orrick)
In the past year we've gotten a wealth of data points about
the Northern District's willingness to stay cases pending
inter partes review of asserted patents. With yet
another recent order from Judge Orrick, we start to see how the
story plays out as the PTO issues decisions in those IPRs.
For Judge Orrick at least, when he stays a case, he means it: the
fact that the PTO declined to review many of the asserted claims
did not justify lifting the stay, nor did it justify severing and
proceeding on only the claims not subject to review.
In order to lift the stay, Judge Orrick required that "the
circumstances that persuaded the court to impose the stay in the
first place have changed significantly," citing a District of
Columbia district court case. But he
found that all of the relevant considerations – (1) the early
stage of the
