By Late Afternoon On This Wednesday, The Real Lady A Trademark Settlement Conference(s) Should Have Concluded...

This is just a short update to indicate that should the settlement efforts this week fail, the Seattle federal district court has penciled in a December 13, 2021 trial date -- about a year out, but to get to a jury that soon would be a major speed record in a federal trademark trial. [Backgrounder of mine, here.] The Western District of Washington's federal courts are moving with more speed than the Nashville ones.

Here's a bit of that schedule (and the full order), should there be no settlement this week.

. . .JURY TRIAL DATE December 13, 2021

Length of Trial 6 days

Deadline for joining additional parties January 4, 2021

Deadline for amending pleadings January 4, 2021. . . .

Deadline for filing motions related to discovery: July 16, 2021. . . .

Discovery completed by August 16, 2021. . . .

And here is a separate not entirely sensible preliminary order entered last week in Nashville -- which requires Ms. White to explain specifically why certain items from the jurisdictional discovery deposition should remain sealed.

In addition, In Nashville, we await briefing on whether the suit will go forward in both districts, or be moved to Seattle -- depending on whether the country group (with millions in sales, a vast network of national and international venues and a global reputation) had the right to sue Ms. White (an individual regional artist, of necessarily limited means) in what is a far-away forum, for her.

We shall see -- I am hopeful that via this week's settlement conferences, the white country group will. . . pay up (in a sensible lower single digit millions of dollars) for the right to use the Real Lady A's prior-in-time common law marks. At about $3 million, or so -- I would counsel Anita White to agree to let the two acts co-exist under the "Lady A" mark. [This the country group had only offered, in return for "letting" the real Lady A. . . keep using her name, with no compensation from them. Insane.]

So, I'd say that if seven figures are not on the table by late Wednesday -- I'd advise her to push on to a jury trial, where she might win into the low teens of millions of dollars, in damages -- from these arguably willful (and well-heeled) infringers.

नमस्ते