Court Zings Plaintiff, Defendants, Conduct in the Prior Forum, Patent Litigation as a Whole

A case filed by Touchstream Technologies, Inc. (d/b/a Shodogg) against Optimum Communications (f/k/a Altice, together with multiple subsidiaries) was transferred for convenience in April 2024 from the courtroom of Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap to the Eastern District of New York. There, District Judge Gary R. Brown was assigned to preside. In the context of granting only in part a motion for judgment on the pleadings, with respect to a “claim” of willfulness, Judge Brown has not only criticized the parties before him but has also elbowed the conduct of this case before it arrived before him. Meanwhile, Western District of Texas Judge Alan D. Albright, after presiding over a jury trial that produced a $339M verdict for Touchstream against Alphabet (Google), just reassigned that matter to newly seated District Judge Chris Wolfe—before entry of a final judgment.