Judge OKs joinder with ‘swarm’ of counterfeiters

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted May 29, 2020 9:53 AM

When Bose Corp. sued 17 defendants based in China for allegedly counterfeiting its high-end electronics and using aliases to sell the fakes on eBay, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin questioned whether joinder was appropriate under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20 — which permits joining multiple defendants “in one action... If any right to relief is asserted against them... With respect to or arising out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences” — because Bose alleged a similar …

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