Judge Albright Denies Sixth Joint Motion To Stay Pending Settlement After Eight Months of Staying Case Pending Settlement Discussions

It is common practice for parties in patent litigation to bring joint motions to stay to finalize terms of settlement when they have reached settlement in principle. These joint motions, which are often serially requested until the parties reach a final settlement agreement, are typically granted by district judges as a matter of course. In Panasonic Holdings Corp. v. Broadcom Corp., Judge Albright showed that these stays have a shelf life in his court.

On July 12, 2023, Judge Albright delivered a text order denying a joint motion to stay pending settlement. Judge Albright noted that he had previously granted five joint motions to stay pending settlement in the case already, which had given the parties nearly eight months to finalize a settlement agreement. Given this length of the stay, Judge Albright held that further stay was “not appropriate in this circumstance.” The takeaway for litigants in front of Judge Albright is that joint motions to stay pending settlement will not be granted indefinitely.

Panasonic Holdings Corp. v. Broadcom Corp., Case No. 6:22-cv-00755-ADA (W.D. Tex. July 11, 2023) (Text Order Denying D.E. 44).

Winston & Strawn Summer Associate Grayson Carnahan contributed to this article.