Final Pretrial Conference Set in Marriott’s Trademark Suit vs. Robocallers

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Anderson for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria will use Thursday’s final pretrial conference in Marriott’s lawsuit to thwart robocallers from impersonating Marriott telemarketers to hear arguments on the company’s third motion to compel discovery from defendant Dynasty Marketing Group, said his order Monday (docket 1:21-cv-00610). Also on Thursday’s agenda is Marriott’s Nov. 4 motion to bifurcate the two groups of remaining defendants so it can better complete service on entities that are based in Mexico, said Anderson’s order. “Marriott has expended great effort and expense to effectuate service on the Mexican defendants, not only through the Hague Convention, but through separate investigations into whether individuals associated with the Mexican defendants could be located and served in the United States,” said Marriott’s Nov. 4 memorandum in support of the motion to bifurcate. Without the presence of the Mexican defendants, “Marriott has been hamstrung in its ability to collect discoverable information,” it said. Another defendant, ResortCom International, filed a motion Monday to seal the report of Marriott’s expert witness, Todd Schoettelkotte, “out of an abundance of caution,” to prevent the accidental disclosure of confidential information. “ResortCom believes sealing is appropriate to allow Marriott the time to identify any confidential information it believes exists in the report,” said its motion.