State Farm Denied Attorneys’ Fees Over Patent Infringement Claim

State Farm was denied its request for dismissal with prejudice of a patent infringement claim and to be awarded attorneys’ fees incurred from defending the claim brought by The Phelan Group, LLC.

State Farm argued one of Phelan’s claims of patent infringement was filed “without conducting the requisite pre-suit diligence,” that it never had basis for the claim, and intentionally violated disclosure obligations and court-ordered deadlines for infringement contentions. Although the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that Phelan “dragged its feet” in dropping the claim, “neither side has clean hands.”

“While Defendant complains about the ...