Heavy Sanctions Blow Up Case After Power Surge Lie

A job services company acted in bad faith when it lied to the court that a power surge destroyed computers containing evidence relevant to a trademark infringement claim, the Northern District of California held Feb. 8 (InternMatch, Inc. v. Nxtbigthing, LLC, 2016 BL 36242, N.D. Cal., 3:14-cv-05438-JST, 2/8/16).

In an opinion by Judge Jon S. Tigar, the court wasn’t impressed with defendant Nxtbigthing LLC’s claims that a power surge destroyed an iMac after litigation began, which in turn allegedly made evidence irretrievable. The company’s failure to make any effort to determine if data were salvageable, coupled with the ...