Bret Bocchieri Quoted in Intellectual Property Law360
"JPML Won't Combine Plastic Molding Patent Cases"

Bret Bocchieri was quoted in the April 20, 2010 Intellectual Property Law360 article, "JPML Won't Combine Plastic Molding Patent Cases." The article reported on a recent decision by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to deny a patent holder's request to centralize more than two dozen cases alleging companies have infringed a patent covering a plastic injection molding process. According to the article, on April 14, 2010, the panel denied Jens Erik Sorensen's bid to consolidate 29 infringement and declaratory judgment cases arising from the plastic molding patent either in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California or the Northern District of California. The panel found that centralization would not be convenient for the parties and witnesses and would not “further the just and efficient conduct of this litigation.”

Bret, who represented defendants Helen of Troy Texas Corp. and OXO International Ltd. and also argued against consolidation before the panel in March 2010, commented that “The current case provides support and precedent for other parties similarly situated in large multidistrict patent litigation who do not want their cases consolidated before one court subject to the special rules of MDL."