Miami International Holdings Inc. and related subsidiaries (MIAX) retained Fish in the dispute over seven electronic trading patents. But Fish had also represented the suit’s plaintiff, Nasdaq, from 1998 to 2011 in intellectual property matters, including prosecuting four of the seven patents.
Fish attempted to wall off individual attorneys and the firm’s entire Boston office from the present litigation. But that wasn’t enough to overcome the firm’s conflict of interest, the court said. The opinion affirms the magistrate judge’s Sept. 6 order, from which MIAX had appealed.
Fish also tried to limit the scope of its representation with MIAX, claiming it would defend only some, but not all, of Nasdaq’s claims. But “Fish has familiarity with Nasdaq’s strategic approaches to managing its technology and inventions,” the court said.
“Despite MIAX’s attempt to parcel individual claims in this case for conflict purposes, this is one lawsuit, all claims are contained in a single Complaint, and” MIAX “elected to file a single motion to dismiss in response to the Complaint,” the court said.
Critchley, Kinum & DeNoia LLC represent Nasdaq. Reed Smith LLP, Holland & Knight LLP, and The Sattiraju Law Firm represent MIAX.
The case is Nasdaq, Inc. v. Miami International Holdings, Inc., D.N.J., No. 3:17-cv-06664, 11/26/18.
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