Judicial Reprimand Serves As Cautionary Tale For Litigants Everywhere

Order Denying Motion to Establish Claim Construction Procedure and to Show Cause Re Sanctions, Seven Networks LLC v. Google LLC, E.D. Tex. (July 19, 2018) (District Judge Rodney Gilstrap)

On July 19, 2018, Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap issued a scathing order in response to a motion by Google LLC to "establish" a procedure for resolving claim construction disputes. Problematically for Google, its motion came nearly two months after the Court issued an order on the procedure for claim construction, three weeks after claim construction briefing began, and only two days before Google filed its responsive claim construction brief. The Court emphasized repeatedly that Google's motion "demonstrates a serious disregard for [the] Court's Rules, Orders, and its authority to control its own docket." The Court also noted that the plaintiff's actions contributed to the problem and ordered both parties and their counsel to appear on August 7, 2018 to show