We haven't written about Mavexar for a while. But a new order today shows that the Court hasn't let up.
We discussed last year how, following a hearing in which the nature of Mavexar came out, the Court ordered the parties and attorneys in some of the Mavexar cases to submit to the Court a broad range of communications among the plaintiffs, Mavexar, and their attorneys.
Today, the Court issued a similar order in an additional case, Backertop Licensing LLC v. Canary Connect, Inc., C.A. No. 22-572-CFC (D. Del.). That case was the one at issue in the November 10 hearing, where the owner of Backertop testified that she is a paralegal who is married to an attorney who works at Mavexar.
The new order is in line with the previous orders, directing Backertop and its attorneys to produce various communications and documents that relate to their truthfulness to the Court and potentially to other issues, such as veil piercing.
The Court also included new explanatory text setting forth why it needs the information—including to prevent "a fraud on the Court":
Whereas the testimony of witnesses and representations of counsel at the November 10, 2022 hearing and other conduct by counsel and entities in this case and other cases in this Court give rise to concerns about the accuracy of statements in filings made by Plaintiff Backertop Licensing LLC (Backertop), whether counsel complied with the Rules of Professional Conduct and orders of this Court, whether there are real parties in interest such as Mavexar and IP Edge that have been hidden from the Court and Defendants, whether those real parties in interest perpetrated a fraud on the court by fraudulently conveying to a shell LLC patents asserted in this Court and filing fictitious patent assignments with the United States Patent and Trademark Office designed to shield those parties from the potential liability they would otherwise face in asserting patents in litigation in this Court, see Nimitz Techs. LLC v. CNET Media, Inc., No. 21-1247, D.I. 32;
NOW THEREFORE, at Wilmington on this Thirty-first day of March in 2023, it is HEREBY ORDERED that Backertop shall produce to the Court no later than April 30, 2023 copies of the following documents and communications that are in the possession, custody, and control of Backertop, [its owner], [its counsel], and/or Fresh IP, PLC . . .
The documents sought are broadly similar to those sought by previous orders in other Mavexar actions, except that the Court also order the parties to produce all communications regarding the November 10 hearing itself, including the travel expenses and arrangements for Backertop's owner to attend the hearing.
We're definitely interested to see what the Court does with all of this information!
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