Mike Boyle (doing business as Surface Dynamix) and his son, Christopher, have filed a motion to disqualify GlasWeld’s attorney and law firm from the alleged patent infringement lawsuit.
“During the expert deposition of Randy Mackey on December 7, 2015, Mackey identified” a video that “‘was sent to me by my attorney, Javier Sobrado,’” according to the court documents. “[GlasWeld’s] lawyer then asserted a confidential work product privilege and an attorney client privilege, and further instructed Mackey to refuse to answer questions relating to the video.”
In another deposition, Justin Price mentioned the same video, say the Boyles in court documents.
The Boyles say they requested a copy of the video and “plaintiff’s attorneys persisted in their refusal” until December 17, 2015. At this time, GlasWeld’s attorney provided the video, noting “he was under no legal obligation to do so.”
“[S]obrado created a video starring himself, using a wrench to forcibly loosen the recessed, pre-set screw of an unmarked and unidentified resin injector from its pre-set and pre-locked position,” say the Boyles. “He then sent this video to both experts so that they could visually rely on his personal manipulation of the accused product to form their opinion of infringement.”
The Boyles say neither Price or Mackey did “any independent or self-guided investigation,” but rather relied on the video provided by their attorney to form their opinions.
“[S]obrado’s testimony is critical to expose the unreliability of the foundation of the plaintiffs’ expert opinions. Sobrado’s position as an attorney and witness for the plaintiff most certainly has and will continue to prejudice the defendants,” the Boyles say in court documents.
They ask the court to disqualify Sobrado and his firm and request reimbursement for the “costs in being forced to brief and address these issues … as well as any other damages, sanctions or costs the court deems equitable and appropriate.”
GlasWeld had not yet filed a response at press time.
GlasWeld filed the alleged patent infringement lawsuit against Mike Boyle, doing business as Surface Dynamix, in the U.S. District Court of Oregon, Eugene division in 2012. Christopher was later added as a defendant in the case.
