MSPBO, LLC v. Garmin International, Inc.

Filing 30

ORDER granting MSPBO LLC's Unopposed Motion to Consolidate Cases Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a). Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a) and D.C.COLO.LCivR 42.1, Civil Action Nos. 13-cv-02287-PAB-KMT and 13-cv-03388-MSK-CBS shall be consolidated for all purposes. As of the date of this Order, all future pleadings and other filings shall be filed in 13-cv-02287-PAB-KMT only. By Judge Philip A. Brimmer on 1/30/14. (mfiel, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge Philip A. Brimmer
Civil Action No. 13-cv-02287-PAB-KMT
MSPBO, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.
ADIDAS NORTH AMERICA, INC. and
ADIDAS AMERICA, INC.,
Defendants.
_____________________________________________________________________
ORDER
_____________________________________________________________________
This matter is before the Court on MSPBO LLC’s Unopposed Motion to
Consolidate Cases Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a) [Docket No. 35] filed by plaintiff
MSPBO, LLC. Plaintiff seeks an order consolidating this case with a related case,
MSPBO, LLC v. Garmin International, Inc., 13-cv-03388-MSK-CBS, pending in this
District before Chief Judge Marcia S. Krieger. Defendants Adidas North America, Inc.
and Adidas America, Inc. (“Adidas”) have indicated that they do not oppose
consolidating the two actions. Docket No. 37 at 1. After review of the pleadings in each
of these cases, the Court concludes that consolidation is appropriate under Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a).
I. BACKGROUND
On August, 26, 2013, plaintiff MSPBO, LLC filed the complaint in this action.
Docket No. 1. Plaintiff alleges that it acquired the rights to U.S. Patent No. 6,744,375,
entitled “Device and Method for Determining and Displaying Travel or Fitness

Quantities of a User of a Sports Equipment.” Docket No. 1 at 1-2, ¶¶ 3, 5. Plaintiff
claims that Adidas made and sold products covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,744,375 and
has infringed patent claims 1, 9, and 10. Docket No. 1 at 3-5.
In plaintiff’s related case, MSPBO, LLC v. Garmin International, Inc., 13-cv03388-MSK-CBS, filed on December 16, 2013, plaintiff alleges that defendant Garmin
International, Inc. (“Garmin”) infringed claims 1, 9, and 10 of U.S. Patent No. 6,744,375.
13-cv-03388-MSK-CBS (Docket No. 1 at 7, ¶¶ 36-37). Plaintiff also alleges that the
“Adidas products accused of infringement in the MSPBO v. Adidas suit use
transmission protocols and components supplied by Garmin.” Id. (Docket No. 1 at 3
¶ 11).
II. ANALYSIS
Rule 42(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that “[i]f actions
before the court involve a common question of law or fact, the court may . . .
consolidate the actions.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a)(2). Pursuant to Local Rule 42.1, the
judge assigned to the lowest numbered case decides whether consolidation is
warranted. D.C.COLO.LCivR 42.1. The decision whether to consolidate actions
involving common questions of law or fact is committed to the sound discretion of the
district court. Shump v. Balka, 574 F.2d 1341, 1344 (10th Cir. 1978). The purpose of
Rule 42(a) is “to give the court broad discretion to decide how cases on its docket are to
be tried so that the business of the court may be dispatched with expedition and
economy while providing justice to the parties.” Breaux v. American Family Mut. Ins.
Co., 220 F.R.D. 366, 367 (D. Colo. 2004) (quoting 9 C. W RIGHT & A. MILLER , FEDERAL

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PRACTICE & PROCEDURE § 2381 at 427 (2nd ed. 1995)). Therefore, the Court will
consider both judicial economy and fairness to the parties in exercising its discretion
under Rule 42(a). See Harris v. Illinois-California Express, Inc., 687 F.2d 1361, 1368
(10th Cir. 1982).
Both of the cases in question involve the same patent and patent claims and
seek to answer the same question: whether U.S. Patent No. 6,744,375 has been
infringed. Moreover, plaintiff alleges that Adidas’ infringing products are composed of
infringing protocols and components supplied by Garmin. Defendants in both cases are
represented by several of the same attorneys, defendant Garmin has not objected to
consolidation, and the present case is the lower numbered case. Therefore, because
the cases involve common questions of law and fact, MSPBO, LLC v. Adidas North
America, Inc. et al, 13-cv-02287-PAB-KMT, and MSPBO, LLC v. Garmin International,
Inc., 13-cv-03388-MSK-CBS, shall be consolidated.
III. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that MSPBO LLC’s Unopposed Motion to Consolidate Cases Under
Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a) [Docket No. 35] is GRANTED. It is further
ORDERED that, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a) and D.C.COLO.LCivR 42.1,
Civil Action Nos. 13-cv-02287-PAB-KMT and 13-cv-03388-MSK-CBS shall be
consolidated for all purposes. It is further
ORDERED that, as of the date of this Order, all future pleadings and other filings
shall be filed in this case only and shall be captioned as shown below:

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Civil Action No. 13-cv-02287-PAB-KMT
(Consolidated with Civil Action No. 13-cv-03388-PAB-KMT)

DATED January 30, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

s/Philip A. Brimmer
PHILIP A. BRIMMER
United States District Judge

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