Altera Corporation v. Papst Licensing GMBH & Co.KG

Filing 25

Order by Hon. Beth Labson Freeman (1) GRANTING motion for reconsideration; (2) GRANTING motion to relate cases; (3) RECUSING. Following the relation of cases, the Clerk shall reassign the cases pursuant to Paragraph E.2 of the Assignment Plan. (blflc3S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/19/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SAN JOSE DIVISION

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ALTERA CORPORATION,

Case No. 14-cv-04794-BLF

Plaintiff,
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v.

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(1) ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION;
(2) ORDER GRANTING
DEFENDANTS’S UNOPPOSED
MOTION TO RELATE CASES;
(3) ORDER OF RECUSAL

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[Re: ECF 24]

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PAPST LICENSING GMBH & CO.KG,

United States District Court
Northern District of California

Defendant.

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On February 13, 2015, the Court denied an unopposed motion to relate the above-

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captioned case with another case pending in this district, Xilinx, Inc. v. Papst Licensing GmbH &

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Co. KG, 14-cv-04963-RS (“Xilinx”). The Court denied relation because the undersigned would be

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forced to recuse herself in the Xilinx case. On February 17, 2015, Defendant filed a motion for

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leave to file a motion for reconsideration of the Court’s denial of the motion to relate the cases.

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See ECF 24.

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A district court has the “inherent power to reconsider, set aside, or amend interlocutory

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orders at any time prior to entry of a final judgment.” Meas v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 681

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F. Supp. 2d 1128, 1143 (N.D. Cal. 2010). Consistent with this inherent power, the Court HEREBY

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GRANTS Defendant’s motion for reconsideration and ORDERS as follows.

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A.

Defendant’s Motion to Relate Cases

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Defendant states that neither Altera nor Xilinx oppose the relief sought. See ECF 24-2 at 1.

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Both actions at issue involve the same patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,574,759 and 6,704,891. See id.

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at 2. Defendant has filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in both actions, and

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determination of both suits could require a court to construe both patents. Defendant argues that

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failure to relate the cases would cause “unduly burdensome duplication of labor and expense or

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conflicting results.” Id.
The Court agrees. Relation of these two cases is consistent with Civil Local Rule 3-12(a)

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and Patent Local Rule 2-1, and the interests of judicial economy and efficiency support relating

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the cases. As such, the Court GRANTS the motion to relate the cases.

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B.

Recusal

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As the undersigned stated in her prior Order, ECF 23, she must recuse herself from Xilinx

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v. Papst Licensing. Therefore, following the relation of these cases, the undersigned hereby

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RECUSES herself.
C.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

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1.

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Order

Xilinx, Inc. v. Papst Licensing, 14-cv-4794, is hereby deemed related to the above-

captioned action, Altera Corp. v. Papst Licensing, pursuant to Civil Local Rule 3-12.
2.

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Due to the Court’s conflict in Xilinx, the Clerk is requested to randomly reassign

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the cases pursuant to the provisions of paragraph E.2 of the Assignment Plan and Civil Local Rule

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3-14.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: February 19, 2015
______________________________________
BETH LABSON FREEMAN
United States District Judge

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