Patent Owner Held in Contempt Calls on Fed. Circ. to Pause Fines

A Dallas-area owner of a patent assertion firm asked the Federal Circuit to pause a rolling $200-a-day civil-contempt fine imposed against her after she refused to travel to Delaware to testify before a federal judge.

Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly of the US District Court for the District of Delaware sought to question Lori LaPray over the summer about a limited liability company she owns with ties to Houston patent monetization firm IP Edge LLC.

LaPray said she wouldn’t travel to attend Connolly’s hearing—part of a broader probe related to third-party litigation funding and several IP Edge-linked entities, including Backertop ...