Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Sanctions — Discretion — Relevance of Movant’s Conduct

Yesterday, the Federal Circuit upheld a denial of sanctions by the Central District of California, reasoning that the District Court properly took into account the behavior of defense counsel in exercising its discretion not to sanction plaintiff's counsel: "[W]ith respect to the conduct of [plaintiff's] counsel in the litigation, the court observed that the conduct of both parties' counsel 'fell far short of a model prosecution and defense of a patent action, and an assessment that they met the minimum expectations would be a generous one.' Under those circumstances, the court determined 'to leave the parties where it finds them,' a decision that falls well within the court's discretion." Propat Int'l Corp. v. RPost, Inc., 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 77, at *22-*23 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 4, 2007). (GPJ)

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