As previously reported, the highly anticipated trial in Thomson Reuters v. ROSS Intelligence was set to begin tomorrow. Thomson Reuters is accusing the defunct legal research startup ROSS Intelligence of infringing its copyrights by appropriating content from Westlaw to develop its own product. However, in a surprising turn of events, U.S. District Court Judge Stephanos Bibas, who is designated from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has issued an oral order to continue the trial without setting a new date.
The continuance was announced after discussions with both parties this morning. Judge Bibas has nullified all prior oral rulings from the parties’ Zoom teleconference on August 20, 2024. The court is now inviting Thomson Reuters to renew its motions for summary judgment and ROSS to renew its cross-motion for summary judgment on fair use. The upcoming briefings will cover issues such as copyrightability, validity, infringement, and the defense of fair use. Additionally, the parties may discuss merger, scenes a faire, copyright misuse, and innocent infringement.
The judge directed the parties to meet and confer to establish a new briefing schedule, page limits, and dates for a two-day summary judgment hearing. They must propose a joint scheduling order to the court by 5 p.m. EDT on August 28. Notably, the request for a continuance was filed by ROSS earlier this week and remains sealed, leaving the exact reasons undisclosed.
For further details, you can read the full report here.