Opinion
22-cv-0594-BAS-KSC
06-21-2022
BELL SEMICONDUCTOR, LLC, Plaintiff, v. NXP USA, INC., Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO STAY (ECF No. 32) AND REQUIRING INTERIM STATUS REPORTS
CYNTHIA BASHANT, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Before the Court is a joint motion to stay this patent action in light of parallel proceedings at the International Trade Commission. (ECF No. 32.) In both this case and before the ITC, Plaintiff Bell Semiconductor is asserting a single patent against Defendant NXP USA. (Compl.; Mot. Ex. 1, ECF No. 32-1.) On June 7, 2022, the ITC instituted a parallel proceeding in Certain Electronic Devices And Semiconductor Devices With Timing-Aware Dummy Fill And Components Thereof, Investigation No. 337-TA-1319. (Mot. Ex. 2, ECF No. 32-2.)
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1659, “at the request of a party to the civil action that is also a respondent in the proceeding before the Commission, the district court shall stay, until the determination of the Commission becomes final, proceedings in the civil action with respect to any claim that involves the same issues involved in the proceeding before the Commission.” The purpose of this mandatory stay “is to prevent separate proceedings on the same issues occurring at the same time” and to avoid duplicative and inefficient consumption of the court's and parties' resources. In re Princo Corp., 478 F.3d 1345, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2007); see also Polymer Tech. Sys., Inc. v. ACON Lab'ys, Inc., No. 18-CV-00805-H-JLB, 2018 WL 3388123, at *2 (S.D. Cal. July 11, 2018) (applying stay provision).
The Court finds § 1659 applies here. Hence, the Court GRANTS the parties' joint motion (ECF No. 32) and STAYS this action pending the final decision in ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-1319. Further, the Court ORDERS the parties to file a joint status report no later than December 21, 2022, and to file a joint status report every six months thereafter until ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-1319 has concluded. The Court also ORDERS the parties to file a joint status report within ten (10) days after the ITC issues its final decision in Investigation No. 337-TA-1319.
IT IS SO ORDERED.