Default judgments are uncommon in Delaware patent cases. In the rare instance where a defendant misses an answer deadline, the issue is typically resolved with minimal court intervention, either because the plaintiff agrees to an extension or the court sets aside the entry of default.
But in a recent case against Aston Martin, LLC (brought by Display Technologies, LLC), it appears that a default judgment might actually be moving forward. (Side note: it isn't clear to us whether the correct legal entity was sued or served, and we take no position on that front.)
The complaint was filed in February 2020, the summons was served in May, and the clerk entered a default in July. The plaintiff eventually moved for a default judgment in December, seeking an award of $75,000 to $1 million (based on damages estimates from a client affidavit).
On Monday, Judge Andrews recognized that it would "be necessary to have a hearing in order to determine the amount of damages[,]" but made clear that he wasn't going to take the plaintiff's word for the damages number:
In preparation for the hearing, Plaintiff is ORDERED to file any settlement agreements that Plaintiff has obtained in Delaware cases No. 20−259 (FCA), 20−260 (Ferrari), 20−261 (Jaguar), 20−262 (Ava), 17−1426 (Gibson), 17−1427 (Pioneer), and 18−1390 (Como). The agreements should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth the dollar amounts of each settlement.
Will all of these settlements (and their dollar values) hit the public docket? Will the plaintiff try to keep them sealed? Or will the motion simply be withdrawn? Who knows, but we will certainly be keeping an eye out!
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