District Court, E.D. Texas — appointed by William Jefferson Clinton
Doss v. United States
District Court, E.D. Texas · 2011-03-31 · cited 2×
In Doss v. United States, two employees of a contractor working at a U.S. Army depot sued the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging negligence caused an electrical explosion that severely injured them. The court granted the government's motion to dismiss under Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Texas law applies to the FTCA claims and includes an exclusive remedy provision that bars employee suits for on-the-job injuries when the employer or general contractor provides workers' compensation coverage. The court found that the United States acted as a general contractor under a contract with the plaintiffs' employer and had provided such coverage, making it a statutory employer immune from the claims.
labor & employmenttorts & liabilityprocedure
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY INCUBATOR, INC. v. Sharp Corp.
District Court, E.D. Texas · 2010-04-05
This case involved an objection by plaintiff Advanced Technology Incubator, Inc. to defendant Sharp's proposed Japanese-language trial interpreter, Jared Taylor, in a civil action that had been transferred and reset for trial. The court sustained the objection and disqualified Taylor after finding that, although no actual bias was shown, his prior service as a check interpreter for Sharp during depositions, his involvement in privileged attorney-client communications, and his paid work in social settings with Sharp's team created an appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest. The court also continued the trial to allow Sharp time to secure a replacement interpreter, noting that proceeding without one would prejudice Sharp's witnesses. The ruling focused on maintaining impartiality in courtroom interpretation services under federal practice standards.
procedure
United States v. Morales-Rosales
District Court, E.D. Texas · 2010-03-09 · cited 1×
This case involved a criminal defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized after a Border Patrol agent stopped his van on an interstate highway far from the border. The magistrate judge recommended granting the motion, finding the agent lacked reasonable suspicion under the totality of circumstances because the van was merely heavily loaded with tinted windows and the driver stared straight ahead, without additional factors like tips, erratic driving, or suspicious vehicle modifications. The government objected, citing the area's characteristics, the agent's experience, and similarities to prior cases, but the district court overruled the objections after de novo review. The court adopted the recommendation and granted the motion to suppress, holding that the stop was not supported by specific articulable facts.
immigrationcriminal law
ESN, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc.
District Court, E.D. Texas · 2009-12-30 · cited 4×
This case involves a patent infringement suit brought by ESN, LLC against Cisco Systems, Inc., alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,283,519 related to VoIP telephony technology invented by Gregory D. Girard. Defendants moved to dismiss for lack of standing, contending that Girard had assigned his rights in the patent to a non-party employer, Iperia, Inc., through an employment agreement, and also moved for related discovery on the issue. Plaintiff responded with arguments and evidence that the invention fell outside the scope of the agreement and was not owned by Iperia, while also filing a separate motion to disqualify counsel and impose sanctions for alleged improper financial incentives offered in exchange for testimony. The court granted the motion to dismiss, finding that ESN lacked standing because it could not establish ownership of the patent, and granted in part the sanctions motion as modified while denying it in part, based on violations of discovery rules and ethical standards.
procedurebusiness & regulatory
Balthasar Online, Inc. v. Network Solutions, LLC.
District Court, E.D. Texas · 2009-09-15
This case is a patent infringement action in which Balthasar Online alleged that multiple defendants infringed U.S. Patent No. 7,000,180, which covers methods and systems for creating rich-media applications over the Internet. Several California-based defendants moved under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) to transfer venue to the Northern District of California. The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part, transferring claims against defendants for whom venue and personal jurisdiction existed in the Northern District of California at the time suit was filed, while retaining claims against the Texas-based defendants who could not have been sued there. The ruling applied the threshold requirement that transfer is permitted only to a district where the action might originally have been brought, allowing severance of claims against different defendants.
procedure
TiVo Inc. v. Dish Network Corp.
District Court, E.D. Texas · 2009-09-04 · cited 6×
In TiVo Inc. v. Dish Network Corp., the court considered TiVo's motion for sanctions after finding EchoStar (Dish Network) in contempt of an injunction that barred infringement of TiVo's '389 Patent with certain DVR products. The court had previously determined that EchoStar's design-around attempts were not more than colorably different from the infringing products and failed to comply with the injunction's directives. The court awarded TiVo $2.25 per DVR subscriber per month for the contempt period (April 18, 2008, to July 1, 2009), totaling nearly $200 million, plus attorney’s fees and costs incurred in the contempt proceedings; this amount combined the jury's $1.25 royalty rate for compensation with an additional $1 sanction to promote compliance. The award rested on Fifth Circuit factors for civil contempt sanctions, including harm from noncompliance, effectiveness of the sanction, the contemnor's financial resources, and willfulness, while accepting EchoStar's good-faith representations and declining to treble the rate at this stage.
business & regulatoryprocedure