by Dennis Crouch
A new petition for certiorari in Atturo Tire Corp. v. Toyo Tire Corp. highlights an interesting procedural quirk in Illinois law that may require Supreme Court intervention to resolve an important state law question about the scope of litigation privilege. The case started as a patent importation dispute that Toyo filed with the ITC against various tire manufacturers, but not against Atturo. Toyo settled those cases with provisions requiring the settling parties to stop selling Atturo's tires. After Atturo won a $10 million jury verdict under Illinois law for tortious interference and related claims, the Federal Circuit reversed based on Illinois' absolute litigation privilege. Atturo believes the scope of litigation privilege should be referred to the Illionois Supreme Court. But, the Supreme Court's rules only allows certification from the US Supreme Court or Seventh Circuit -- that meant that the Federal Circuit could not certify the case.
Atturo has asked the Supreme Court to exercise its unique certification authority to get definitive guidance from the Illinois Supreme Court. See Ill. Sup. Ct. R. 20(a).
Read my post about the Federal Circuit's original decision here: Dennis Crouch, Treading Carefully: Federal Circuit Expands “Absolute Litigation Privilege” and Affirms Trade Dress Invalidity in Toyo Tire v. Atturo Tire, Patently-O (October 6, 2024).
The rest of this post talks through both the scope of litigation privilege and the certification process.