Defendants Ordered to File Response to DirecTV’s Motion to Strike

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle for Eastern Texas in Tyler signed an order Wednesday (docket 6:22-cv-00423) striking the defendants’ March 11 affidavit in opposition to DirecTV’s motion to strike the defendants’ affirmative defenses because the declaration “does not conform to the requirements” of local rules. He ordered the defendants to file a response by March 29 to DirecTV’s pending motion to strike. The defendants’ failure to do so under local rules may result in a “presumption” they don’t “controvert the facts” set out by movant and have no evidence to offer in opposition to the motion to strike, said the order. DirecTV’s trademark infringement lawsuit alleges defendants WNK Associates, the Great Mile, Waleed Iqbal and Khalid Iqbal, impersonating DirecTV telemarketers, typically contact existing or potential DirecTV customers to offer them nonexistent free or significantly discounted services or products, and then they take the consumer’s money (see 2301310041).