by Dennis Crouch
In Backertop Licensing LLC v. Canary Connect, Inc., the Federal Circuit addressed the scope of a district court's inherent authority to investigate potential litigation misconduct. Chief Judge Connolly of the District of Delaware had initiated an inquiry into dozens of patent infringement cases filed by plaintiff LLCs associated with IP Edge, a patent monetization firm, and Mavexar, an affiliated consulting shop. The district court was concerned that the real parties in interest may have been concealed, that fictitious patent assignments were filed with the USPTO to shield those parties from liability, and that the plaintiff LLCs' attorneys may have violated the Rules of Professional Conduct by taking direction from Mavexar without their formal-clients' informed consent.
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