[U: 12.19.2022] Settlement Discussions Continue In Multi-Billion Dollar Merck v. Merck Lanham Act Case...

Updated 12.19.2022 -- and bumped: The discussions will continue in private, with next court settlement conference (and potentially public results) in February 2023, thus:

. . .The next settlement conference in this matter will take place before the Undersigned on February 10, 2023, beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST. To accommodate the schedules of counsel and Mr. Kolle, the conference will proceed via Zoom. The Court will provide counsel the Zoom link. On or before February 3, 2023, lead counsel will provide Deputy Clerk Jacquetta Baker with a list of all conference participants and their e-mail addresses. Any supplemental settlement memoranda shall be submitted by February 3, 2023, to [redacted] @ njd [dot] uscourts.gov. If the conference requires a second day, the Court will discuss scheduling with counsel and the parties at the close of the February 10th session. So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 12/19/2022. (Hammer, Michael). . . .

End, updated portion. [Duplicated, for the record above -- and reposted, on 12.19.2022.]

This one may well be nearing the finish line, over a decade on (or. . . a century, depending on how you count, from the end of World War I).

Of course there are lots of other companion cases like it, pending in courtrooms dotting the globe. . . but perhaps, just perhaps -- here at near Christmas 2022 -- this will be a truly global settlement. We can only hope -- and specifically, this was filed overnight, on a Friday night in Newark:

. . .December 9, 2022

Dear Judge Hammer:

We, along with Sidley Austin, represent Plaintiffs Merck & Co., Inc. and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. in this matter. With the consent of Blank Rome LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, counsel for Defendant Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, we are writing with an update as requested by the Court’s Text Order of December 1, 2022 (D.E. 209).

The parties are continuing their discussions and therefore respectfully request a short extension to Monday, December 12, to provide a further update to Your Honor.

We appreciate the Court’s attention to this matter. . . .

/s/ [for] McCarter & English. . . .

Getting excited for the return of my kiddos... out into the steel and glass canyons, and the half-light reflected there, from the emerging winter's gloaming. . . to see "The Menu" -- smiling. Ever, smiling.

नमस्ते