NichM said:
A new development? Given how bad the reporting has been on this case recently, I'm interested to hear phisheep weigh in on it.
This time, they got it right. Thanks for the heads-up NichM - I had downloaded the latest court documents last night but was too tired to read them!
It looks like - subject only to the judge's ruling - the case has been settled.
EDIT: Just so nobody's under any misapprehensions, this means that the two parties (through their lawyers) have documented and signed an agreement as to what they would like to happen, but nothing actually happens until the judge says so.
What happened is this:
In light of the allegations of fraud, the court had ordered Langdell to give deposition on the fraud allegations on October 6th.
As I mentioned a few posts above on 5th October, there was an opening for a settlement in the case provided that Langdell came out of it without a finding of fraud against him:
phisheep said:
The trouble is, if the counterclaim goes ahead, the trial will be very dangerous for Langdell. So does he have any room for a settlement? And is there anything that EA could be persuaded to settle on?
I think maybe there is.
You see, if Langdell settles on giving up the trademarks on the grounds of abandonment, but not of fraud (the two are not mutually exclusive) then he might have a chance of escaping further civil lawsuits (on the basis that he will not have any money worth chasing after) and criminal lawsuits (on the basis of lack of evidence). There would still be a risk of criminal proceedings, but the burden of proof would be a high one. In addition, he would still hold on to trademarks in other jurisdictions (like the UK).
EA might be persuaded to accept this (plus costs) in settlement.
And this is pretty well what has happened. In return (apparently) for a quick settlement Langdell does not now have to give a deposition on the fraud allegations (that order was granted yesterday).
The terms of the proposed settlement are broadly as follows:
- Each party bears its own costs.
- Neither party admits any wrongdoing (so, no finding of fraud/perjury against Langdell).
- both Langdell's claim and EA's counterclaim are found in favour of EA on all points except one ...
- ... the court WILL NOT give declaratory relief that Langdell has lost any common law rights he might have in 'Edge', that claim is dismissed without prejudice
- the court MAY cancel the five Langdell trademarks at issue (it has to be worded that way because cancellation under these circumstances - without a finding of fraud or abandonment - is at the court's discretion)
This does not finally kill off Langdell, but it does leave him mortally wounded and with the other vultures circling. I think that is the correct legal terminology.
We have to wait for the judge's final ruling to be certain, but since it seems very likely to be granted, we need to look at the loose ends and what happens next.
Loose ends
The cancellation case before the USPTO will be terminated, as it will no longer be necessary so long as the federal court does cancel the trademarks.
The opposition case' before the USPTO will be resuscitated. Thats the one where Langdell is trying to register Edge for videogames (which he does not currently have for some bizarre reason). Since this case contains the same fraud allegations, which Langdell must avoid at all costs, I expect that he will voluntarily abandon it (in a fairly loose sense of the word voluntarily).
I dont expect any other company to have the resources to pursue Langdell over fraud in the civil courts, but I do expect that there will be criminal proceedings brought, at least in the US.
I do expect further civil actions in respect of the cancelled marks in the US and in respect of all marks that Langdell holds in the UK.
Ill post more when the final verdict is issued.
But it looks like very good news indeed.
I guess some of us will be disappointed that EA didnt go the whole way and kill Langdell off for good, but as I said above I dont blame them in the least for stopping at this stage they have got what they needed and got far enough that Langdell can be safely ignored, or at least severely warned off, by future victims.