NFL Helmet Maker Proposes Dropping Sanctions Bid in Patent Case

Riddell Inc. said it won’t pursue sanctions over alleged backdated evidence in a helmet-safety patent suit if a final judgment makes clear it defeated infringement claims targeting its Speedflex and Axiom football helmets.

The NFL’s official helmet supplier said in a statement filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that it’s prepared to drop its request for sanctions because the plaintiff and his son have claimed they “have no ability to pay.” But the evidence hasn’t changed, said Riddell, since non-party William J. Jacob—the patent’s inventor and son of plaintiff William A. Jacob— allegedly ...