Nimitz, CNET Dismiss Case That Gained Fame Over 3rd-Party Litigation Funding

Plaintiff Nimitz Technologies and defendant CNET Media stipulate to dismiss Nimitz’s claims against CNET with prejudice, and to dismiss CNET’s counterclaims against Nimitz without prejudice, said their joint notice Thursday (docket 1:21-cv-01247) in U.S. District Court for Delaware in Wilmington. Each party will bear its own court costs and attorneys’ fees, said the notice. Nimitz sued CNET in August 2021 alleging infringement of three video streaming and broadcast technology patents, and CNET countersued a month later for declarations of noninfringement and for an order declaring that the claims of one of the three patents were invalid. The case gained notoriety in 2022 when Nimitz aroused the suspicions of U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly that it was a sham organization whose lawsuit was being funded by third parties in exchange for a share of the suit’s recovery. When the judge ordered Nimitz to produce bank records and internal communications documents to show it wasn’t accepting third-party funding, Nimitz unsuccessfully sought mandamus relief from the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit to halt the judge’s investigation (see 2212010035). Nimitz ultimately turned the records over to Connolly on April 6 this year (see 2304070038), but the judge never disclosed the findings of his investigation.