Eagle Eyes Traffic Industry USA Holding LLC v. E-Go Bike LLC

Background

The case concerns alleged infringement of two patents involving vehicle headlights. The motion addressed here arose from discovery disputes, not the patent claims themselves. On July 1, 2022, Judge Hixson had granted in part and denied in part Eagle Eyes’s motion to compel discovery. Eagle Eyes then moved for monetary sanctions, including attorney’s fees, and terminating sanctions.

Judge Trina L. Thompson referred the sanctions motion to Judge Hixson for either a decision or a report and recommendation. Judge Hixson treated the attorney-fee request as an order and the request for terminating sanctions as a report and recommendation because terminating sanctions could potentially end the case.

Attorney’s Fees

Eagle Eyes sought fees incurred because E-Go Bike did not timely respond to interrogatories, requests for admission, and requests for production of documents. E-Go Bike argued that its failure was substantially justified and that awarding expenses would be unfair because the company had been cancelled, operated through employees in China, and was affected by lockdowns from April through June 2022.

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37, a court generally must require payment of reasonable discovery-related expenses when a motion to compel is granted, unless the failure was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award unfair. Judge Hixson found that E-Go Bike was not substantially justified. The difficulties in obtaining documents and information from a former employee did not explain why its United States counsel failed to serve written responses and objections.

Judge Hixson found that Eagle Eyes’s attorney, Katja Grosch, reasonably billed 17 hours at $375 per hour. He found the rate reasonable and the hours not excessive, redundant, or unnecessary. He therefore granted Eagle Eyes’s motion for reasonable attorney’s fees and awarded $6,375.

Terminating Sanctions

Eagle Eyes also requested terminating sanctions, which can end a case as a consequence for serious discovery misconduct. Judge Hixson found that Eagle Eyes provided no argument or briefing supporting that request. He therefore recommended that the district court deny the motion for terminating sanctions.

Disposition

The order grants Eagle Eyes’s motion for monetary sanctions and orders E-Go Bike’s counsel, Dahyee Law Group, to pay Eagle Eyes $6,375 in attorney’s fees. It also recommends that the district court deny Eagle Eyes’s motion for terminating sanctions.