Joint Report on Settlement Negotiations

The parties promised Judge Carney a status report addressing settlement negotiations, and here it is:

Joint Report on Settlement Negotiations

The document is short and sweet -- just a single page -- so I reproduce the entire thing here:

Plaintiff ChromaDex, Inc. and Defendants Elysium Health, Inc. and Mark Morris, by and through their respective counsel of record, hereby state as follows:

1. The parties are continuing their efforts to mediate a settlement of this matter with the Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.). As that process has moved forward, and keeping in mind the parties’ goal of reaching a global settlement of all disputes between them, it has become clear that achieving a settlement of this action requires simultaneous effort to resolve the patent case currently pending between the parties in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. See ChromaDex, Inc. & Trs. of Dartmouth Coll. v. Elysium Health, Inc., No. 18 Civ. 1434 (D. Del.) (the “Delaware Action”).

2. Accordingly, the parties have scheduled a mediation of the patent claims in the Delaware Action with Chief Magistrate Judge Mary Pat Thynge, to whom the Delaware Action was referred on March 19 by the Delaware District Court for alternative dispute resolution. The parties participated in an initial conference call with Judge Thynge on April 16, and Judge Thynge issued an order on April 27 scheduling a telephonic mediation for May 27, 2020.

3. It is the parties’ intent to make progress on resolution of the patent claims with Judge Thynge, and thereby provide a framework for a global settlement between the parties that would include the claims in this action. Judge Weinstein has agreed to proceed in this manner and to work with Judge Thynge as appropriate in order to help the parties achieve a global settlement.

4. The parties request that the Court schedule a telephonic status conference for early June to allow them to update the Court on the status of the mediation efforts. The parties will of course inform the Court immediately if a settlement that includes this action is reached prior to the date of that conference.

We have long suspected that there would have to be a global settlement or none at all, and the parties clearly think so. The private mediation has either been continued, or more likely deferred pending the Delaware settlement effort. However, the request for an early June follow-up suggests that whatever is going on with Judge Weinstein is expected to transpire very shortly after the May 27 Delaware event. Too bad the June follow-up is telephonic -- we might not learn much about it.

But it would be fair to say, I think, that this document evidences real settlement intent, not just a court-ordered kabuki. That doesn't mean the matter can be settled, but if it can be settled, we may soon find out.