Foley: Company that Sued and Changed Its Mind Sought to Defame the Firm

Foley & Lardner is telling a federal judge that a patent holding company was seeking to harm the attorney-client relationship—and Foley’s reputation—when it sued the law firm in August.

The plaintiff SPH America sought to drop its lawsuit less than 40 days after filing the complaint. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered (PDF) a show-cause hearing for today, asking SPH to demonstrate it “is not filing vexatious lawsuits,” according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

Brinkema, of the Eastern District of Virginia, wrote in a court order last week that SPH “has an unusual record of filing complaints in this district and then dismissing them.”

SPH’s suit had alleged Foley used confidential patent information learned during settlement talks to file a lawsuit on behalf of Foley's client, Japanese electronics manufacturer Kyocera.

Foley went on the offensive with a court submission (PDF) Thursday, saying its purpose was to aid Brinkema as she considers any sanctions against SPH and its lawyers. “Foley shares the court’s concern that SPH is on a campaign of vexatious litigation directed at Foley’s clients, and now Foley itself,” the submission says.

Foley’s submission asserts SPH filed the suit to harm the law firm’s relationships with Kyocera and another client that are SPH adversaries in patent litigation. “SPH filed its recently dismissed complaint against Foley … for the sole purpose of generating negative publicity in a misguided effort to harm Foley’s client relationships,” the document says. The idea was “to defame the impeccable reputations of Foley and its lawyers,” it alleges.

SPH was formed in 2008 by former Fish & Richardson associate Choongsoo Park, according to The BLT.

Updated at 1:04 p.m. to include Foley's motion and Brinkema's order.