By: Derek Hawkins//January 19, 2021//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Tai Matlin, et al., v. Spin Master Corp, et al.,
Case No.: 20-1039; 20-1049
Officials: EASTERBROOK, MANION, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Fee Award – Attorney’s Fees
Plaintiffs Tai Matlin and James Waring have spent seventeen years embroiled in disputes related to the intellectual property claims at issue in this case. In that time, arbitrators have sorted out many aspects of this IP kerfuffle, including that a company called Gray Matter is on the hook alone for paying certain royalties to Matlin and Waring. So, in 2017, when Matlin and Waring filed the suit now on appeal seeking those royalties from companies other than Gray Matter, they knew—or should have known—that they had a loser on their hands. And the district court recognized as much by sanctioning Matlin and Waring and ordering them and their former counsel, Stoltmann Law Offices, to pay certain costs and fees expended by Defendants Swimways and Spin Master.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s decision granting costs and fees to Swimways and Spin Master in the amount of $271,926.92. We also deny Appellees’ motion for sanctions under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.
Affirmed