Federal Court Orders Diablo to Pay Netlist Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

Oakland, California

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, granted BartkoZankel client Netlist’s Special Motion to Strike Diablo’s claims against Netlist for breach of contract, unfair competition, and interference with Diablo’s customers.  The Court also ruled that Netlist is entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs associated with Netlist’s filing of the Special Motion to Strike. View a PDF copy of the Order.

With all of its claims having now been stricken, Diablo has no affirmative claims to pursue in the trade secret lawsuit while Netlist’s claims for misappropriation and breach of contract remain intact as the March 9, 2014 trial date approaches. Under the Court’s order issued January 12, Judge Gonzales Rogers found that Netlist’s actions, including filing the trade secret lawsuit and discussing the suit with customers, fell squarely within California statutes designed to protect constitutional free speech and statements related to litigation.  One of these statutes allows for early dismissal of meritless claims aimed at chilling protected speech, so as to avoid costly, time-consuming litigation.

The BartkoZankel legal team consists of Ben Riley, Rob Bunzel, Griff Towle, Paul Schuck, Sony Barari and Sean McTigue. Ben Riley commented: “We are very pleased that Judge Gonzalez Rogers granted our anti-SLAPP motion. Neither Netlist or the court will be forced to waste more resources on Diablo’s claims, and Diablo will have to pay the legal fees associated with filing and winning this motion.”

This ruling came on the heels of Judge Gonzalez Rogers ordering a preliminary injunction against Diablo from manufacturing, using, distributing or selling high-speed memory chips used by SanDisk and other major computer manufacturers.