Belarusian app developer SayGames LLC had its motion for attorneys’ fees granted by a California federal court after defeating a Turkish competitor’s copyright infringement lawsuit.
Good Job Games Bilism Yazilim ve Pazarlama A.Ş. moved the US District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss SayGames’s motion for attorneys’ fees, but failed when the court ruled Thursday that SayGames “is the prevailing party and is thus eligible” for payment. Good Job Games alleged SayGames’s mobile game Cannon Shot! infringed on its game Crazy Jump 3D.
- Good Job Games argued that its voluntary dismissal without prejudice of its own copyright infringement claim meant there was no prevailing party and each would bear its own costs
- According to Judge Edward M. Chen, “courts typically find that a dismissal without prejudice does not materially alter because the defendant remains at risk of being sued again and does not obtain benefit of a ruling on the claims’ merits”
- In this case, however, the court ruled there is no such risk because of claim and issue preclusion
- Good Job Games filed its motion for voluntary dismissal two days after SayGames moved for attorneys’ fees, and after Good Job Games’s previous deadline to file an amended complaint had expired on Jan. 6, 2023
- “The dismissal by GJG was filed after the stated time for GJG to amend, and this Court’s ruling on the merits effectively became final on January 7, 2023, before GJG filed its voluntary dismissal,” Chen wrote
- SayGames requested a total of $165,351.17, but the court ultimately granted about $112,000 in fees and costs
Tyz Law Group PC and Fenwick & West LLP represent Good Job Games. Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC represent SayGames.
The case is Good Job Games Bilism Yazilim ve Pazarlama A.Ş. v. SayGames, LLC, 2023 BL 152289, N.D. Cal., No. 3:19-cv-07916-EMC, 5/4/23.
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