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For those patent cases that were on the eve of trial, or at least relatively close, the COVID-19 pandemic will likely represent a delay—either of a defined or undefined length—as reflected by some of the orders issued in those matters.
Eastern District of arkansas (Little Rock)
Chief District Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr.
Jager Pro, LLC v. Bull Creek Welding and Fabrication, Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock issued an Order cancelling a trial scheduled for June 7, 2021 because the Court has older cases set for trial that week. In the same Order, the Court noted that it had previously cancelled a trial scheduled for April 12, 2021 against another defendant due to "the ongoing emergency conditions due to COVID-19." The Court further stated that it will decide the dispositive motions that have already been briefed by the parties, and reset trial dates for the matters, if necessary, in due course. (Case No. 4:19-cv-00107; March 12, 2021).
Central District of California (Southern Division—Santa Ana)
District Judge David O. Carter
Pinn, Inc. v. Apple Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California's Southern Division in Santa Ana reset the jury trial for September 14, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. (PDT) and the pretrial conference for June 14, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (PDT), after discussing with counsel the Court's schedule and the "expected availability of a jury venire," On September 3, 2021, the Court continued the jury trial to September 28, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. During a status conference held on September 10, 2021, the Court continued the trial to October 26, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. On October 20, 2021, the Court issued a Scheduling Notice continuing the jury trial date to January 5, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. On December 12, 2021, the Court granted in part defendant's motion seeking to exceed the scope of adverse direct with respect to three witnesses that plaintiff intends to call in its case in chief, so that the three defense witnesses can complete their testimony in one appearance at trial. The Court denied the motion with respect to two of the three witnesses, noting that defendant did not articulate specific concerns related to those witnesses potentially traveling and testifying twice. With respect to the third witness the Court granted the motion, including consideration of the witness' "concern regarding increased family health risks due to travel is exacerbated by the emergence of the newest COVID-19 variant." On December 28, 2021, "[f]or the purpose of COVID precautions," the Court continued the trial to March 22, 2022. On December 29, 2022, the Court held a status conference via teleconference during which the parties jointly stipulated that they were prepared to move forward with the jury trial starting on January 18, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. The parties agreed to work in good faith to accommodate any legitimate witness requests relating to COVID-19 concerns, including the ability to appear by video if necessary and that they will inform the Court of any further COVID-19 issues. (Case No. 8:19-cv-01805; March 3, 2021, September 3, 2021, September 10, 2021, October 20, 2021, December 12, 2021, December 28, 2021 and December 29, 2021).
District Judge James V. Selna
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Limited v. Flexicare Incorporated – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana granted plaintiff's motion to continue the current June 1, 2021 jury trial date until October 21, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court noted that Orange County is presently in the purple zone, and would have to move two zones to the yellow zone before the Court could begin conducting jury trials under the present General Order, which was deemed "unrealistic in light of the present trial date." The Court also noted a number of other factors that "compel a continuance": 1) criminal cases take priority under the Speedy Trial Act and since the Court has not tried a criminal case in over a year, there is a backlog which must be addressed once the Court opens for jury trials; 2) there are many civil cases older than this case to be tried and there is no basis to advance this case ahead of other civil litigants who have also been waiting; and 3) there is a seven-week lead time to summons a jury. The parties were also advised that there is no assurance that the trial will proceed on October 21, 2021 for the same reasons. In accordance with the Court's instructions at the parties' August 9, 2021 status conference, the parties submitted a Joint Status Report Regarding Trial Scheduling after a meet and confer to discuss alternative dates for trial in view of current travel restrictions for both parties' witnesses. The plaintiff advised the Court that several of its witnesses, including the named inventors, who are located in New Zealand could be impacted by "a current outbreak of COVID-19 infections in New Zealand, and there is no timeline or clarity from the New Zealand government as to when existing travel restrictions will be lifted or adjusted so that individuals could travel to California for trial and return home to New Zealand without disruption." The plaintiff also indicated that New Zealand is moving towards a "phased reopening" that will be dependent on vaccination rates and the potential impact of additional variants of COVID-19, but that it expects to be able to proceed with trial in March of 2022. Likewise, defendant indicated it expects to proceed with trial in March 2022, but it continues to monitor COVID-19-related travel restrictions that may affect its witnesses located in the United Kingdom. On December 1, 2021, the Court denied plaintiff's Motion To Strike Prior Art References. In the Order, the Court advised the parties to not use the "pandemic-related delay" to raise further preexisting issues and it encouraged the parties to meet and confer to resolve such issues, as informed by the Court's prior rulings, with the goal of working toward efficient trial preparation. On December 6, 2021, the Court set the jury trial for March 22, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. (Case No. 8:19-cv-00835; February 24, 2021, October 15, 2021, December 1, 2021 and December 6, 2021)..
TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd. v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana vacated the April 2021 jury trial date and all other dates, other than the parties' January 11, 2021 mediation, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court set a status conference for 9:00 a.m. on January 19, 2021 to discuss the results of the mediation and rescheduling of the trial and all other dates. (Case No. 8:14-cv-00341; December 14, 2020).
District Judge Josephine L. Staton
Sportspower Ltd., Inc. v. Crowntec Fitness Mfg. Ltd. – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California's Southern Division in Santa Ana sua sponte continued the pretrial hearing and deadlines for motions in limine from April 3, 2020 to August 7, 2020. The order was issued in accordance with the Central District of California's Continuity of Operations Plan ("COOP") which suspended hearings in civil cases, except emergency and time sensitive matters including temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, as ordered by the assigned district judge. (Case No. 8:17-cv-02032; March 30, 2020).
Central District of California (Western Division—Los Angeles)
District Judge Andre Birotte, Jr.
Nomadix Inc. v. Guest-Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles granted defendant's Ex Parte Application to Permit Remote Trial Testimony of two witnesses. With respect to the first witness, the Court noted that the request was unopposed and "there is good cause to allow his remote testimony because [the witness] lives in Thailand and would face burdensome COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions if he traveled to Los Angeles for trial." In the case of the second witness the plaintiff did oppose the request, but the Court decided to allow the remote testimony considering "the pandemic-related circumstances" that made the originally designated witness from Germany unavailable to testify, necessitating calling the second witness as an alternative witness, in combination with "the evolving circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, [the witness'] fall teaching schedule, and the ability of modern technology to facilitate [the] foundational testimony." On December 8, 2021, the Central District of California jury returned its verdict finding that defendant breached the patent licensing agreement by failing to pay royalties, finding plaintiff was entitled to damages in the amount of $ 6,500,000 for that breach, but also finding that plaintiff was in breach of a separate Memorandum of Understanding, entitling defendant to damages of $ 2,500,000. (Case No. 2:16-cv-08033; August 30, 2021 and December 8, 2021).
District Judge John A. Kronstadt
Epistar Corp. v. Lowe's Companies Inc. et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles held a Status Conference on October 7, 2021 via zoom in which the Court conferred with the parties about beginning the trial on October 19th instead of October 26,, 2021, which it indicated "will likely be unavailable due to the limited scheduling of jury trials during the pandemic." During a Status Conference held by videoconference on November 9, 2021, the Court confirmed that the jury trial will start on November 16, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. On December 6, 2021, the Central District of California jury returned its verdict that the asserted claims of the patents-in-suit were proven to be willfully infringed and that the plaintiff was entitled to reasonable royalty damages of $2,121,000.00 as a one-time payment. (Case No. 2:17-cv-03219; October, 2021, November 9, 2021 and December 6, 2021).
Nike, Inc. v. Skechers U.S.A., Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California's Western Division in Los Angeles issued a ruling on a number of motions, and instructed the parties to meet and confer and file a joint report about their respective views as to the potential trial dates of March 16, 2021 or March 30, 2021. The Court further indicated that its order setting a trial date will also set a date for a status conference in January 2021, which will proceed "if necessary to discuss a potential modification of the trial date in light of any ongoing issues related to COVID-19." (Case No. 2:17-cv-08509; October 26, 2020).
Northern District of California (Oakland)
District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr
Plexxikon Inc. v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland granted in part and denied in part defendant's Motion To Strike plaintiff's expert's supplemental damages expert report. As part of its analysis, the Court noted that although trial had been continued a number of times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "this additional time did not liberate the parties to reopen discovery" and defendant would therefore be significantly restricted in its ability to effectively cross-examine the expert at trial if the Court did not strike the Second Supplemental Report. The Court further set a telephonic case management conference, due to recent developments in the Court's COVID-19 protocols, for June 25, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., to discuss logistics for the upcoming trial. On July 22, 2021, the Northern District of California jury returned its verdict, finding that the patents were not proven invalid and were willfully infringed, and that plaintiff was entitled to damages of $177,792,640.01. On September 17, 2021, the Court issued a Judgment consistent with the jury findings entering judgment in favor of plaintiff finding the patents willfully infringed and not invalid, and awarding plaintiff damages of $177,792,640.01 as compensatory damages for infringement through July, 22, 2021. (Case No. 4:17-cv-04405; June 23, 2021, July 22, 2021 and September 17, 2021).
Senior District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton
Cyntec Company, Ltd. v. Chilisin Electronics Corp. et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland issued a Final Pretrial Order for the 8 day jury trial that is schedule to commence on August 23, 2021. On September 1, 2021, the Northern District of California jury returned its verdict, finding that the asserted patents were willfully infringed, and that plaintiff was entitled to damages of $1,552,493.00 in lost profits, $320,463.00 in royalties for sales which plaintiff had not proven its entitlement to lost profits. (Case No. 4:18-cv-00939; July 30, 2021 and September 1, 2021).
District Judge Jon S. Tigar
Droplets, Inc. v. Yahoo, et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland requested the parties to submit a Supplement To The Joint Pretrial Statement consistent with the rulings made at the pretrial conference held on August 13, 2021. The Statement included a requirement that, unless excused by the Court, "all party-affiliated trial participants (including attorneys, staff, IT Specialists, consultants, party witnesses and party representatives) shall either: (1) be vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccine or (2) test negative for COVID-19 within five days prior to their first appearance at the courthouse (including appearance at voir dire or other proceedings) with confirmed negative results and provide confirmed negative results, prior to entering the courthouse." Any unvaccinated participant would be required to be tested weekly throughout the trial and provide negative test results each week. The Statement also included the parties' positions regarding vaccination of jurors, with the plaintiff stating that "the time to object to the impact of a vaccination requirement on the jury pool will be once data about the venire panel in attendance, from which the jury is to be selected, has been made available", and the defendant agreeing with "the Court's suggestion to excuse all unvaccinated jurors from jury service for this trial." The defendant requested, alternatively, that should plaintiff object to sitting only vaccinated jurors that the Court "require any unvaccinated jurors to present a negative Covid-19 test either each week of jury service or until the Delta variant of Covid-19 subsides within the Oakland Division." The jury trial is set to begin on September 13, 2021. On September 2, 2021, the Court issued an Order Continuing Trial And Setting Case Management Conference granting plaintiff's unopposed motion for a continuance. The Court indicated that in light of the ruling it "need not and does not now reach the other issues set forth in [plaintiff's] motion regarding the composition of the jury or the presence of unvaccinated persons in the courtroom." In particular, as part of its motion, the plaintiff argued that "proceeding now and excluding unvaccinated jurors would violate the Seventh Amendment and the Jury Selection Act." The Court indicated that it intended to reset the trial for March 7, 2022 as requested by the parties. On December 22, 2021, entered the Proposed Order Memorializing Rulings From First Pretrial Conference that had been held on August 13, 2021. On January 3, 2022, the Court held a hearing in which trial procedures and trial viability were discussed, and the jury trial was vacated. The parties were ordered to meet and confer about the scheduling of a new jury trial. (Case No. 4:12-cv-03733; August 13, 2021, August 20, 2021, September 2, 2021, December 22, 2021 and January 3, 2022).
Northern District of California (San Francisco)
District Judge Edward M. Chen
Asetek Danmark A/S v. CoolIT Systems, Inc.- The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco issued an Order setting a trial date of February 28, 2022, but warning the parties about the "uncertainty of trial scheduling in light of the backlog due to the pandemic and the possibility of trailing." The Court further encouraged the parties to continue exploring settlement negotiations and alternative dispute resolution in light of the uncertainties of trial, particularly under the "consequential circumstances" presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Case No. 3:19-cv-00410; December 22, 2020).
District Judge William H. Orrick
Illumina, Inc. et al v. BGI Genomics Co., Ltd et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco issued Rulings Following The Pretrial Conference, ruling on a number of pending motions. As part of the rulings, the Court granted plaintiffs' MIL to exclude evidence and argument of negative impacts of a verdict against defendant and use of defendants' products for COVID-19 pandemic related purposes. The Court denied the MIL as to discussion of defendants' COVID-related products as background and defendants' rebuttal to potential arguments about the negative impacts of moving its research and development outside the United States. The Court noted that plaintiff may offer evidence in rebuttal if defendants introduces evidence about COVID-related products. The parties were reminded "to stick to the core issues in this case, which do not include whether [defendants are] linked to the Chinese government" or developing COVID-relief inventions, On November 30, 2021, the Northern District of California jury returned its verdict, finding that some of the claims of the patents-in-suit were proven to be willfully infringed, based on induced and contributory infringement, most claims were not shown to be invalid, and the plaintiff was entitled to damages of $8,000,000.00 to reasonably compensate for the defendants' infringement. (Case No. 3:19-cv-03770; October 27, 2021 and November 30, 2021).
Intel Corp. v. Tela Innovations, Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco issued an Order ruling on Summary Judgment Motions, Motions To Strike and Exclude, and Administrative Motions To Seal. The Court further indicated that it appears the case will proceed to trial on February 25, 2021 "as long as COVID-19 conditions in the Bay Area counties allow for it", but that it will have further information at the Pretrial Conference. On January 9, 2021, the Court issued an Order vacating the deadlines and hearings in the stipulated scheduling order, further indicating that if the defendant's Motion To Certify Judgment and Stay Pending Appeal is denied, a new pretrial and trial schedule will be set on January 19, 2021 during the Motion Hearing. On March, 1, 2021, the Court granted defendant's motion for certification and a stay, until the Federal Circuit's mandate issues, of the remaining claims that would otherwise proceed to trial. As part of its analysis, the Court agreed that there is no legal overlap between the remaining claims to be tried to a jury and the ones that have been certified but found that there is "significant" factual overlap. The Court stated that "the process of empaneling two juries to hear these same facts is overly burdensome . . . [and these] realities are especially true because of the pandemic." The Court noted that jury trials in the District have been "rare and their timing unpredictable", due to health risks, public health measures, and other concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and drawing a constitutional jury pool, managing the venire, and protecting the health of the jury panel, court staff, and the litigants during trial is a challenge during the pandemic. Referring to the situation as "not possible to predict", at best, the Court further noted that "it is entirely plausible that the parties would perform extensive trial preparation work only to have it called off if the public health situation deteriorates again." (Case No. 3:18-cv-02848; December 22, 2020, January 9, 2021 and March 1, 2021).
District Judge Richard Seeborg
Gamevice, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. et. al. – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco granted plaintiff's Motion and Order to Extend Schedule in View of COVID-19 Travel Restrictions, requesting an approximately three month extension in view of the difficulties in domestic and international travel due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions. The jury trial date, currently scheduled for July 6, 2020, was moved to October 26, 2020. The Final Pretrial Conference will be held on September 23, 2020. In an August 3, 2020 Notice Vacating Pretrial Conference And Jury Trial And Setting Further Case Management Conference, the pretrial conference and jury trial were vacated and the Court scheduled a Case Management Conference for September 3, 2020 at 10:00 AM to be held telephonically. (Case No. 3:18-cv-01942; May 19, 2020 and August 3, 2020).
Gamevice, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. et. al. Docket 177 - May 19, 2020
Northern District of California (San Jose)
District Judge Beth Labson Freeman
Amazon.com, Inc., et al. v. PersonalWeb Techs., LLC, et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose granted the parties' stipulation and order extending by two-days plaintiff's deadline for filing its motion for attorney's fees, due to COVID-19 and the shelter-in-place orders in San Francisco. (Case No. 5:18-cv-00767; March 19, 2020).
Amazon.com, Inc., et al. v. PersonalWeb Techs., LLC, et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose denied plaintiffs' motion to stay a determination of attorney fees and costs pending appeal and rejected plaintiffs' argument that public policy favored a stay due to the coronavirus outbreak. In analyzing the four factors to determine whether to stay awarding attorneys' fees and costs pending appeal, the court found that plaintiffs had "made no showing that the public interest would be served by a stay -- only that the court's 'potentially reduced resources' due to COVID-19 health concerns supports a stay." The court acknowledged that COVID-19 has certainly impacted the courts' operations across the country, however, it went on to say that "this Court continues to resolve substantive motions." The court was not persuaded that any of the issues presented warranted a deviation from the court's usual course of considering attorneys' fees promptly after the merits decision rather than waiting for resolution of the appeal. (Case No. 5:18-cv-00767; April 20, 2020).
Finjan Inc. v. Cisco Systems Inc., – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose issued Civil Minutes for the pretrial conference held via Zoom Webinar on April 30, 2020, in which the Court indicated that Jury Selection and the Trial have been set to start on June 22, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. At this time, the Court intends to seat a jury of 8 (subject to change) chosen from a panel of 50. The Court held a Case Management Conference on May 26, 2020, during which it reset the Jury trial date to October 19, 2020. On September 24, 2020 the Court issued an Order notifying the parties that the Northern District of California will resume civil trials on October 1, 2020, and confirming that the jury trial for this case will commence on October 19, 2020. In response to defendant's Motion To Continue The October 19, 2020 Jury Trial Or To Implement Procedures That Ensure A Fair Trail, requesting that the Court continue the trial to January 2021 or in the alternative to November 2, 2020 to allow lead counsel to "ameliorate" a medical condition to allow him to wear a mask, the Court reset jury selection and trial for November 2, 2020. In addition, in order to avoid any potential prejudice or unfairness, the defendant had also requested that an Order be issued "requiring all fact witnesses to testify remotely and that neither party have a corporate representative at counsel table during trial". On October 8, 2020, the Court denied defendant's Motion To Continue The October 19, 2020 Jury Trial Or To Implement Procedures That Ensure A Fair Trail to the degree it requested that "the Court issue an Order requiring all fact witnesses to testify remotely and that neither party have a corporate representative at counsel table during trial." The Court rejected the argument that such an order was necessary to ensure a fair trial, noting that "[v]ideo testimony has long been used when witnesses are not available for in court testimony and it has proved effective." Each party was granted "complete discretion" to determine which of its witnesses will appear in court and which will appear remotely by video. In an October 23, 2020 Order, the Court continued the jury trial to January 11, 2021. On December 16, 2020, the Court issued an Order continuing the jury trial from January 11, 2021 to June 4, 2021. (Case No. 5:17-cv-00072; April 30, 2020, May 21, 2020 & May 22, 2020, May 26, 2020, September 24, 2020, October 2, 2020, October 8, 2020, October 23, 2020 and December 16, 2020).
Fijan Inc. v. Cisco Systems Inc., October 23, 2020 Order
Southern District of California (San Diego)
District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo
Finjan, Inc. v. ESET, LLC, et al. – "Based upon the current state of extraordinary circumstances due to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Pandemic," the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego declared a mistrial, with the agreement of counsel, after suspending the jury trial proceedings and excusing the jury for the day. On March 23, 2021, the Court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment of invalidity for indefiniteness after permitting defendant to renew its motion in consideration of testimony that was heard from plaintiff's expert on the issue during three days of a jury trial that commenced on March 10, 2020 but was vacated and declared a mistrial due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the issuance of the State of California's stay-home order. Although the trial was terminated early due to the pandemic, the expert's testimony was completed, and the Court indicated that "a subsequent trial is not an opportunity for [the expert] to change his opinions or supplement them with support he did not provide on the record at the first trial. The Court noted that the district's "continuing moratorium on civil jury trials and backlog of criminal jury trials currently precludes scheduling a new trial in this matter." (Case No. 3:17-cv-00183; March 16, 2020 and March 23, 2021).
NuVasive Inc. v. Alphatec Holdings Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego issued an Order vacating the current trial schedule due to "the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic." The jury trial had been set to begin on January 10, 2022. The parties were directed to provide the Court with a joint proposal for new trial dates and related deadlines. (Case No. 3:18-cv-00347; January 3, 2022).
District Judge Roger T. Benitez
Golden Eye Media USA, Inc. v. Trolley Bags UK Ltd. et al. – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego vacated the February 22, 2021 jury trial date, due to the COVID−19 pandemic and recent Orders of the Chief Judge suspending jury trials. The Court indicated that it will reschedule the jury trial date once jury trials are permitted to resume. (Case No. 3:18-cv-02109: January 9, 2021).
District Judge Janis L. Sammartino
Genentech, Inc. v. Eli Lilly and Co. – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, finding good cause, granted the parties' joint motion to bifurcate the "exceptional case" determination under 35 U.S.C. § 285 and attorney fees motion under Rule 54(d)(2), allowing the court to decide the exceptionality before defendant presents evidence on the amount of its reasonable attorney fees. The parties' request is in response to stay-at-home orders issued throughout the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made it "difficult for the defendant to collect and timely organize their billing information necessary to meet their burden to prove reasonableness of attorney fees." (Case No. 3:18-cv-01518; March 31, 2020).
District of Colorado (Denver)
Chief District Judge Philip A. Brimmer
Barnett v. Surefire Medical, Inc. et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver granted defendant's Motion to Strike [Plaintiff's] Jury Demand and denied plaintiff's Motion for Trial Before an Advisory Jury, ordering that the four day jury trial set to commence on January 25, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. is reset for a bench trial beginning on the same date and time. The Court decided to exercise its discretion and decline to empanel an advisory jury, noting that the plaintiff concedes that no legal issues remain and "empaneling an advisory jury during a pandemic does not make sense." During a Status Conference held on December 17, 2020, there was a discussion of General Order 2020-21 regarding Court Operations During The COVID-19 Pandemic, entered on December 16, 2020, which ordered that all civil jury trials and all in-person bench trials scheduled to commence through January 29, 2021 in any courthouse in the District of Colorado are continued subject to further order of the presiding judicial officer. The Court encouraged the parties to discuss the options of a potential bench trial via Video Teleconference. In an Order issued on December 23, 2020, the Court vacated the trial preparation conference, currently set for January 8, 2021, and the bench trial, currently set for January 25, 2021. The parties were instructed to jointly contact Chambers to reschedule. The Court reset bench trial for February 14, 2022, with the trial preparation trial conference to be held on January 28, 2022. (Case No. 1:17-cv-02470; September 28, 2020, December 17, 2020, December 23, 2020 and January 4, 2021).
District of connecticut (Bridgeport)
District Judge Stefan R. Underhill
Floodbreak, LLC v. Art Metal Industries, LLC et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in Bridgeport issued a Conference Memorandum and Order after holding a status conference, in part to address the impact of the omicron surge of the COVID-19 pandemic on the forthcoming jury trial. The Court advised the parties of its intent to continue the trial, which was currently scheduled to begin on January 11, 2022, due to the risk to public safety of spiking COVID-19 positivity rates in Connecticut. The Court indicated that, pursuant to the Court's COVID-19 General Order re: Jury Selections and Trials, the jury trial is postponed until further order of the Court. (Case No. 3:18-cv-00503; January 5, 2022).
District of Delaware (Wilmington)
District Judge Richard G. Andrews
Baxalta Incorporated et al v. Bayer Healthcare LLC – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued a Scheduling Order in which it continued the trial due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that it "really doubt[ed] that a jury trial is feasible on September 21st under the circumstances." The Court felt a jury could be selected, however, "realistically . . . it would be a lot better to have a test jury trial where the practical difficulties of the trial are not exacerbated by having nearly every significant participant in the trial being from out-of-state." Although it doubted that the parties would consent to a bench trial, the Court did note that such a trial would be possible to proceed as currently scheduled. The Court also expressed "concern that six months (and counting) of postponed trials is going to be a problem going forward" and that the "parties should expect to be double- or triple-booked for trial . . . [and] that they may not know until the eve of trial whether their trial will move forward." In an Order After Conference, the Court reset the jury trial date for March 15, 2021. (Case No. 1:17-cv-01316; August 12, 2020 and August 31, 2020).
ChanBond LLC vs. Cox Communications Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Order After Pretrial Conference adopting the Proposed Pretrial Order and indicating that the jury trial will begin on August 18, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. (EDT). The Court stated that "[t]he question of the viability of a civil jury trial a month and a half from now, complicated in this case by a multitude of witnesses being located within the United States but distant from Delaware, and the procedures that would be necessary should we be able to go forward, were left for another day." In a July 15, 2020 Oral Order, the Court postponed the jury trial. In a October 13, 2020 Order, the jury trial was scheduled for May 17, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. The parties were instructed to submit a joint status report two months before the start of trial identifying any outstanding pretrial issues that need to be addressed, including whether they are having any witness availability issues. On April 19, 2021, the Court issued a docket entry resetting the jury trial to now begin on May 20, 2021. The parties were also instructed to submit a joint letter regarding "the screening questions for the COVID questionnaires" and a letter regarding the number of attorneys counsel are requesting to be present in the courtroom. (Case No. 1:15-cv-00842; July 2, 2020, July 15, 2020, October 13, 2020 and April 19, 2021).
Horizon Medicines LLC v. Alkem Laboratories Ltd. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Order rejecting a proposal to delay the bench trial, currently scheduled to proceed on September 14-16, 2020, until early 2021 so "that all witnesses attend the trial and testify in person." The Court stated that it expects to go forward with the trial as scheduled, because the thirty-month stay will expire on November 30, 2020, and the defendant "may be in a position vis-à-vis the FDA's requirements to launch then or soon thereafter." As such it is in "the public interest" that the case be decided before then so that if not enjoined the defendant "has the option to launch and to provide generic competition." With respect to the witnesses "unable or unwilling to testify in person", the Court indicated that they may testify by video. The Court further noted that its expects "to have a limited number of lawyers, probably two per side, actually present in the courtroom . . . [that masking] and social distancing will be enforced . . . [and any] other persons (party representatives, other lawyers, support staff, the public) will not be in the courtroom, but will be able to watch the proceedings via video feed in another room or courtroom." In an Order After Pretrial Conference, the Court indicated that the bench trial will begin on September 14, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). The Court also indicated that trial counsel shall be "limited to two attorneys per side, with no substitutions." (Case No. 1:18-cv-01014; July 29, 2020 and August 31, 2020).
Ingevity Corp., et al. v. BASF Corp. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington granted the plaintiff's request for a continuance of the jury trial, due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding "there is little chance for a successful jury trial on September 14th, and I think it is prudent to continue it now." The Court noted that "this is a jury trial, not a bench trial, and, while I believe that most bench trials should be able to be fairly conducted through partial or complete reliance upon video technology, a jury trial is a different animal." The Court did not, however, continue the August 28, 2020 pretrial conference, indicating in a separate oral order, that it will be held using Skype for business. In an Order After Pretrial Conference, the Court indicated that the jury trial will begin on January 4, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. (EST). The Court indicated that under the present plans trial counsel would be limited to two per side and noted that during the conference it had "explained some of its expectations in relation to COVID-19, and also set a conference on December 14, 2020, at 10 a.m. to further refine them in light of then-current events." On December 4, 2020, the Court issued an Order resetting the jury trial to begin on September 7, 2021 at 9:30 a.m., and the pretrial conference set for August 20, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. On August 11, 2021, the Court issued a Memorandum Order re: Proposed Pretrial Order, in which it indicated that live witnesses are expected to be in person, not by video. The Court also indicated that it "does not expect to exclude anyone from the courtroom." On August 28, 2021, the Court entered the Joint Proposed Final Pretrial Order, which indicated that "[g]iven the evolving travel restrictions and guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties will meet-and-confer in good faith to address any accommodations necessary to facilitate witness participation at trial, including any adjustments to whether certain testimony will be presented live or via deposition transcripts." On September 15, 2021, the District of Delaware jury returned its verdict finding that plaintiff was entitled to compensatory damages of $28,285,714.00 for its antitrust claims and $16,483,475.00 for its tortious interference claims. (Case No. 1:18-cv-01391; August 3, 2020, August 28, 2020, December 4, 2020, August 11, 2021, August 24, 2021 and September 15, 2021).
M2M Solutions LLC v. Sierra Wireless America, Inc. et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Order rejecting a joint request that the Court postpone the pre-trial and trial dates due to continuing complications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The parties indicated in their joint letter that "the safety and practicality of conducting a jury trial under the current circumstances, travel by co-counsel and witnesses remains a significant concern." The Court stated that it is "not now inclined to continue the trial to spring 2021 . . . [because circumstances] could change for the better; travel restrictions could be lifted . . . [and] the pretrial conference, at least, can be done remotely." The parties were invited to submit a letter after Thanksgiving "revisiting the issue in light of then-existing circumstances." The pretrial conference is currently set for December 18, 2020, and a 5-day jury trial is set to begin on January 11, 2021. On December 1, 2020, the Court granted the parties request to continue the trial due to continuing complications from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to safety concerns, the parties noted that some counsel, client representatives and witnesses face travel restrictions based on the need to travel from other jurisdictions to Delaware. Furthermore, at least three witnesses "are at increased risk due to their age" and defendant's lead counsel "may be at increased risk due to a preexisting health condition." On December 10, 2020, the Court granted the parties request to postpone the pretrial conference. (Case No. 1:14-cv-01102; October 2, 2020, December 1, 2020 and December 10, 2020).
NexStep Inc. v. Comcast Cable Communications LLC – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Order After Pretrial Conference, after a pretrial conference and consideration of the proposed pretrial order, relating to the jury trial is set to being on September 20, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. The parties were directed to submit a revised pretrial order to incorporate rulings made at the pretrial conference. In the proposed pretrial order, the parties included their competing views, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, regarding streaming the proceedings to individuals not in the courtroom and allowing witnesses to testify via live videoconference. On September 23, 2021, the District of Delaware jury returned its verdict finding that defendant did not literally infringe the asserted patents, but that it did infringe one of the asserted patents under the doctrine of equivalents. With respect to the patent found to be infringed, the jury found that defendant did not prove that patent invalid by clear and convincing evidence. (Case No. 1:19-cv-01031; September 3, 2021 and September 23, 2021).
Pfizer, Inc., et al. v. Apotex, Inc., et al. – On April 15, 2020, the parties' request to continue a previously issued stay was granted and the April 29th pretrial conference, as well as the bench trial scheduled for May 11, 2020 was continued to an undetermined date. (Case No. 1:18-cv-00795; April 15, 2020).
Sprint Communications Company L.P. v. Charter Communications, Inc. et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington granted the defendants' request for a continuance of the jury trial currently scheduled to begin on October 5, 2020, due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that the Court did not think "it prudent to make the first civil jury trial in Delaware be one in which the risk from the nature of the case – no one from Delaware but me, court staff, and the jury – is at the maximum, particularly when there is essentially no harm from delay." The defendants had argued, among other things, that many of the counsel and witnesses would need to travel to Delaware from other states and that "given the size of [the] case and the number of counsel involved, a trial that limits Defendants to 4-6 people in the courtroom would be unduly prejudicial . . . with 8 or more counsel anticipated to handle aspects of the trial." In the Order, the Court indicated that if the trial were held on October 5th it would only allow 2 attorneys per side in the Courtroom, further stating that it "may insist on this practice for some time." (Case No. 1:17-cv-01734; September 2, 2020).
TQ Delta LLC v. ADTRAN Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Oral Order directing the parties to advise the Court of their views regarding the "feasibility" of the scheduled jury trial currently set to begin on August 31, 2020. In particular, the parties were requested "to state which witnesses they intend to call live, to identify the states in which the witnesses live and their views on travel to Delaware then, and to identify any other currently known concerns about the scheduled trial." The Court granted defendant's Motion to Strike Reply Expert Opinions Based on the Doctrine of Equivalents, in part because it found that "the COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted plans for an 'orderly and efficient trial,' [and] re-opening discovery to give Defendant an opportunity to cure the prejudice would only disrupt the schedule further." In a separate Oral Order, the Court indicated that the pretrial conference scheduled for August 21, 2020, will be held using Skype for business. On August 4, 2020, the Court granted defendant's request for a continuance of the trial, with the Court finding that various "factors" made it believe that this case is not a "particularly good case with which to conduct a jury experiment during a pandemic." Counsel and many of the witnesses would be coming from out of state, including two defendant fact witnesses and an expert witness, who is in a "high-risk category", that do not want to travel to Delaware for the trial as scheduled. The Court also noted that Delaware is still in Phase One of reopening and by standing order has postponed all jury trials through August 30, 2020; it did "not think it is prudent to maintain a schedule for a jury trial for the first day on which it is currently possible to hold such a trial." (Case No. 1:14-cv-00954; July 28, 2020, July 31, 2020, August 3, 2020, August 4, 2020 and November 6, 2020).
Public Access Information for Hearing
November 13, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. (EST)
Phone No.: 1-202-503-1666
Conf. ID: 442633658
TQ Delta LLC v. ADTRAN Inc. DI 1189 - August 3, 2020
Wonderland Switzerland AG v. Evenflo Company, Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Oral Order converting the jury trial scheduled for February 1, 2021 to an entirely remote bench trial on that same date, upon agreement of the parties. In a letter to the Court, the parties had indicated their mutual agreement to proceed via a bench trial, however, they requested "for the safety of all concerned, that the trial be entirely virtual . . . [thereby relieving] some considerable COVID-related anxiety associated with an in-person proceeding." (Case No. 1:18-cv-01990; December 9, 2020).
Magistrate Judge Christopher J. Burke
Finjan, Inc. v. Rapid7, Inc., et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington held a hearing on January 15, 2021 in response to the parties' joint letter seeking guidance from the Court "regarding whether, in light of the current situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, there is any chance that the [February 22, 2021] scheduled jury trial can go forward." The parties argued that "given the diminishing likelihood that jury trials will resume in February, it would be in the interest of the parties and the Court to postpone the trial in this matter until sometime in the fall, preferably September or October of 2021, at the Court's convenience." The Court ruled that the pretrial conference and jury trial will be rescheduled, and directed the parties to file a joint letter. On February 19, 2021, the Court held a telephone conference during which the pretrial conference was set for October 4, 2021 at 2 p.m. (EDT) and the six-day jury trial set to begin on October 25, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. (EDT), to be held before Magistrate Judge Burke which the parties had consented to previously. (Case No. 1:18-cv-01519; January 15, 2020 and February 19, 2021).
District Judge William C. Bryson
Lipocine Inc. v. Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Order clarifying the schedule in response to a submission from plaintiff requesting guidance as to scheduling of events up to and including the trial. The Court indicated that, in light of the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the February 2021 jury will likely be postponed. As such, the parties were instructed to assume that the February 8, 2021 trial date will not hold, for the purposes of making necessary arrangements for trial. The parties were further instructed, however, that the remaining scheduled tasks set forth in the scheduling order were not postponed, and should be completed as currently scheduled to "ensure the maximum flexibility in rescheduling the trial if doing so becomes necessary." The Court further indicated that it will conduct the jury trial on legal issues first and the bench trial on the inequitable conduct issue afterwards, considering any evidence that is introduced at the jury trial but is also relevant to inequitable conduct. On December 28, 2020, the Court issued a Second Amended Scheduling Order cancelling the pretrial conference, currently scheduled for January 8, 2021, and the jury trial, currently scheduled for February 8, 2021, because of the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court indicated that the pretrial conference and jury trial will be rescheduled once it becomes clear when jury trials will resume in the District of Delaware. (Case No. 1:19-cv-00622; November 12, 2020 and December 28, 2020)
TC Technology LLC v. Sprint Corporation et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington denied the defendants' motion to postpone the jury trial, scheduled to start on August 24, 2020, which sought a continuance of at least three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court noted that although the District of Delaware has removed all trials from the calendar for the month of July, no action has yet been taken as to trials scheduled for August 2020. The Court indicated it will issue a further order with regard to whether the trial in this case will go forward as scheduled or will be postponed after the District of Delaware makes a decision regarding trials scheduled to be held in August. The Court ordered that the jury trial be rescheduled, pursuant to the District of Delaware's July 17, 2020 Revised Standing Order Re: Criminal And Civil Jury Selections And Jury Trials, continuing all civil and criminal jury selections and jury trials in the District scheduled to begin before August 31, 2020. The Court directed the parties to meet and confer in order to seek agreement as to a new trial date, further indicating that it will not be able to conduct a jury trial prior to March 2021. The Court converted the July 31, 2020 pretrial conference to a telephonic status conference, as requested by the parties, to be held at 10 a.m. (EDT). It further indicated that the pretrial conference will be rescheduled at a later date. On August 24, 2020, the Court reset the jury trial to begin on May 10, 2021. On March 9, 2021, the Court issued an Order postponing the jury trial and stating that "a new trial date will be set after it becomes clear when jury trials will resume in the District of Delaware." On April 15, 2021, the Court set the jury trial for the week of November 15, 2021. In an Order, issued on August 9, 2021, setting an off-the-record meeting to discuss evidentiary issues for the upcoming trial, the Court indicated that the meeting will be held at the National Courts Building in Washington D.C. "unless the state of the COVID-19 pandemic is such that an in-person meeting is not advisable, in which case the meeting will be conducted by teleconference." (Case No. 1:16-cv-00153; June 30, 2020, July 17, 2020, July 24, 2020, August 24, 2020, March 9, 2021, April 15, 2021 and August 9, 2021).
District Judge Colm F. Connolly
Boston Scientific Corp. et al. v. Nevro Corp – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued an Oral Order indicating that the pretrial conference was to be held by telephone on October 19, 2021. On November 1, 2021, the District of Delaware jury returned its verdict, finding that two of the asserted claims of the patents-in-suit were directly infringed, two claims were shown to be indirectly and willfully infringed and two claims were not proven to be infringed based on active inducement, the asserted claims were not proven invalid by clear and convincing evidence, and that plaintiff was entitled to a reasonable royalty amount of $20 Million in damages. (Case No. 1:16-cv-01163; October 19, 2021 and November 1, 2021).
Par Pharmaceutical, Inc. et al v. Eagle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington entered a Stipulated Order To Permit Live Trial Testimony, allowing defendant's expert witness to testify remotely at the in-person bench trial. The expert resides in Germany and anticipates that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to attend the July 7, 2021 trial in person "in light of the ongoing health risks and travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic." Instead, the witness will travel to Brussels, Belgium to testify live, but remotely, via contemporaneous audio and visual transmission that will be provided by TrialGraphix via its Zoom trial platform. The Order further required that the expert "shall not use any virtual backgrounds unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties and the Court", and once examination has commenced "there shall be no unrecorded or unnoted communications between [the expert] and any person (including any counsel), by any means, including through telephone, electronic chat, email, or text message, while the trial is on the record." When trial is off the record, the expert and counsel may communicate by "any means, such as in a 'break-out room' or by telephone call or email, as would be permitted for in-person testimony." The expert was ordered not to communicate with anyone else regarding the substance of his testimony, absent express permission from the Court, once cross examination has begun until he has concluded his testimony on cross examination. On September 16, 2021, the Court issued its Final Judgment entering judgment in favor of defendant and against plaintiff with respect to the infringement allegations, and dismissing without prejudice defendant's counterclaims of patent invalidity and unenforceability. (Case No. 1:18-cv-00823; July 6, 2021 and September 16, 2021).
Pharmacyclics LLC et al v. Alvogen Pine Brook LLC et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington issued a Memorandum Opinion, after having held a seven-day bench trial in October 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that all the asserted claims of the asserted patents are not invalid and that defendant infringes each of the asserted claims. (Case No. 1:19-cv-00434; August 19, 2021).
Steuben Foods, Inc. v. Shibuya Hoppmann Corporation et al. – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington denied the parties' proposed stipulation to extend time, indicating that the jury trial set to begin on November 15, 2021 had been on the calendar for many months and the Court needs the proposed voir dire, jury instructions, and special verdict form by October 20, 2021. On November 22, 2021, the District of Delaware jury returned its verdict that the asserted claims of the patents-in-suit were proven to be infringed, were not proven by clear and convincing evidence to be invalid and that the plaintiff was entitled to reasonable royalty damages of $38,322,283.78. (Case No. 1:19-cv-02181; October 18, 2021 and November 22, 2021).
LOAD MORE CASES


text:
#pragma once

#include "FirstOrderOptimizer.h"

namespace paddle {

// add regularizer for objective function to do optimization
class OptimizerWithRegularizer : public ParameterOptimizer {
 public:
  static ParameterOptimizer* create(const OptimizationConfig& optConfig,
                                    const ParameterConfig& paraConfig,
                                    bool isParameterSparse,
                                    bool inPserver);

  OptimizerWithRegularizer(const OptimizationConfig& optConfig,
                           ParameterOptimizer* optimizer,
                           Regularizer* regularizer)
      : ParameterOptimizer(optConfig),
        optimizer_(optimizer),
        regularizer_(regularizer) {
    parameterTypes_ = optimizer_->getParameterTypes();
  }

  virtual void init(size_t numRows, const ParameterConfig* config) {
    optimizer_->init(numRows, config);
  }

  virtual void startPass() {
    optimizer_->startPass();
    timer_ = 0;
  }

  virtual void finishPass() { optimizer_->finishPass(); }

  virtual void startBatch(int64_t numSamplesProcessed) {
    optimizer_->startBatch(numSamplesProcessed);
  }

  virtual void finishBatch() {
    optimizer_->finishBatch();
    ++timer_;
  }

  virtual TraverseCallback needSpecialTraversal(
      const ParameterConfig& config) const {
    return optimizer_->needSpecialTraversal(config);
  }

  virtual void update(const VectorPtr vecs[],
                      const ParameterConfig& config,
                      size_t sparseId) const {
    optimizer_->update(vecs, config, sparseId);
    regularizer_->update(vecs, config, optimizer_->getLearningRate(), 0, 1);
  }

 protected:
  std::unique_ptr<ParameterOptimizer> optimizer_;
  Regularizer* regularizer_;

  /**
   *  counting batches, clear after catch up with
   *  t(timer_) is current time,
   *  t0(t0Vec_) are last occur time of i rows.
   *  if one block is update by multi threads,
   *  caller should hash sparse ids to avoid write conflict in t0Vec_.
   */
  int timer_;
};

// Regularized Loss function for every num of batches
class OptimizerWithRegularizerEveryNumBatches
    : public OptimizerWithRegularizer {
 public:
  OptimizerWithRegularizerEveryNumBatches(const OptimizationConfig& optConfig,
                                          ParameterOptimizer* optimizer,
                                          Regularizer* regularizer)
      : OptimizerWithRegularizer(optConfig, optimizer, regularizer) {}

  virtual void startPass() {
    OptimizerWithRegularizer::startPass();
    baseTimer_ = 0;
  }

  virtual void update(const VectorPtr vecs[],
                      const ParameterConfig& config,
                      size_t sparseId) const {
    optimizer_->update(vecs, config, sparseId);
  }

  virtual TraverseCallback needSpecialTraversal(
      const ParameterConfig& config) const;
  void doTraversal(const VectorPtr vecs[], const ParameterConfig& config) const;

  void catchUpWith(const VectorPtr vecs[],
                   const ParameterConfig& config,
                   size_t sparseId) const;

  virtual TraverseCallback startCatchUpWith() const;
  virtual void finishCatchUpWith() { baseTimer_ = timer_; }

 protected:
  bool isRegularizationBatch(const ParameterConfig& config) const {
    return ((timer_ + 1) % config.num_batches_regularization() == 0);
  }

  /**
   *  recored the timer_ value while catchUpWith called.
   */
  int baseTimer_;
};

// Regularized Loss function with Sparse support
class OptimizerWithRegularizerSparse : public OptimizerWithRegularizer {
 public:
  OptimizerWithRegularizerSparse(const OptimizationConfig& optConfig,
                                 ParameterOptimizer* optimizer,
                                 Regularizer* regularizer)
      : OptimizerWithRegularizer(optConfig, optimizer, regularizer) {}

  virtual void init(size_t numRows, const ParameterConfig* config);

  virtual void update(const VectorPtr vecs[],
                      const ParameterConfig& config,
                      size_t sparseId) const;
  void catchUpWith(const VectorPtr vecs[],
                   const ParameterConfig& config,
                   size_t sparseId) const;
  virtual TraverseCallback startCatchUpWith() const;
  virtual void finishCatchUpWith() {
    timer_ = 0;
    t0Vec_.assign(t0Vec_.size(), 0);
  }

 protected:
  /**
   *  t0Vec_ are last occur time of i rows
   *  if one block is update by multi threads,
   *  caller should hash sparse ids to avoid write conflict in t0Vec_.
   */
  mutable std::vector<int32_t> t0Vec_;
};

}  // namespace paddle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A beautifully made buckler, perfect for I.33 fencing and other means of medieval combat under Liechtenauer and Fiore. This the stuff of legends. An old tale would go that 800 years ago in Germany, the cruel King Conrad had invaded a city and split the men in one side and the women on the other. To the men he says, "Today you are going to die", he turns to the women and says,"You may take anything you want from the city without harm coming to you". So when he goes to rest inside his tent, the women begin picking up all of their men in the city and leaving immediately. When Conrad came out and saw this, he was aghast. The women were carrying all of the men out and he could do nothing. Since it was his oath. It's possible that some men were carried by shields, perhaps a tad bigger than this buckler, by these women. Thus the ladies kept their loved ones, the men didn't die and Conrad had nobody to kill.


text:
Sparhawk Receives O'Donnell Award
Filed in Authors, Awards, SFWA | Steven H Silver, March 6, 2018 5:30 pm | Comments (0)
Tags: Bud Sparhawk, Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award, Pittsburgh, SFWA, SFWA Nebula Conference
SFWA has announced that Bud Sparhawk will receive this year's Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award on March 19 at the SFWA Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh. In addition to serving as a director, treasurer and CFO for the organization, he has also advised the Emergency Medical Fund and the Grants Committee and established SFWA's Financial Advisory Committee.
Fiscus to Receive Service to SFWA Award
Filed in Awards, SFWA | Steven H Silver, March 21, 2017 11:13 am | Comments (0)
Tags: Jim Fiscus, Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award, Pittsburgh, SFWA Nebula Conference
SFWA has announced that Jim Fiscus will receive this year's Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award at the SFWA Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh, held the weekend of May 18-21. Fiscus served as the SFWA Liaison to Westercon in 1990, hosting an Oregon White tasting. In the mid-90s, he began writing a column on the business and legal aspects of the publishing industry for the SFWA Bulletin. He oversaw of a review of the SFWA handbook in 2002 and served as Western Regional Director from 2008 until 2015 when the position was abolished. He is currently the chair of the contracts committee. Fiscus will be recognized at the Nebula Award Ceremony on May 20.
SFWA Announced Grand Master & Service Awards
Filed in Authors, Awards, SFWA | Steven H Silver, March 2, 2015 12:01 pm | Comments (0)
Tags: Chicago, Damon Knight Grandmaster, Jeffry Dwight, Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award, Larry Niven, SFWA
SFWA has announced that Larry Niven will be named the Damon Knight Grand Master. Niven began publishing in 1964 with "The Coldest Place" and has won the Nebula Award, multiple Hugo Awards, the Ditmar, Seiun, and Prometheus Awards.
In addition, SFWA has announced that Jeffry Dwight will receive the Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award. Through his hosting of SFWA's web presence from the shutdown of GEnie in 1999 until the launch of SFWA's new website a couple of year's ago, Dwight helped keep SFWA's internet presence going, providing connections for many members, and provided assistance for SFWA to modernize on the internet.
The award will be presented at the 50th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend, Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Illinois, June 4 through 7, 2015.
Nebula Award Winners
Filed in Awards, SFWA | Steven H Silver, May 18, 2014 12:25 am | Comments (0)
Tags: Andre Norton Award, Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award, Nebula Awards, Ray Bradbury Award
SFWA presented the 50th annual Nebula Awards in San Jose, CA on May 18. In addition to the Nebula Awards, SFWA also presented the Kevin O'Donnell Service to SFWA Award, the Damon Knight Grand Master Award, the Andre Norton Award, and the Ray Bradbury Award.
Best Novel: Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
Best Novella: The Weight of the Sunrise, by Vylar Kaftan
Best Novelette: "The Waiting Stars," by Aliette de Bodard
Best Short Story: "If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love," by Rachel Swirsky
Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sister Mine, by Nalo Hopkinson
Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation: Gravity, written by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón, directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Kevin J. O'Donnell Service to SFWA Award: Michael Armstrong
Damon Knight Grand Master Award: Samuel R. Delany
Nebula Award Live Stream
Filed in Awards, SFWA | Steven H Silver, May 17, 2014 9:17 am | Comments (1)
Tags: Andre Norton Award, Damon Knight Grandmaster, Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award, Nebula Award Weekend, Nebula Awards, Ray Bradbury Award, SFWA
SFWA will be presenting the Nebula Awards from San Jose this evening beginning around 7:45 PST. The event will be streamed on Ustream. In addition to the Nebula Awards presentations will include the Service to SFWA Award, the Grand Master Award, the Bradbury Award, and the Norton Award. Ellen Klages will be toastmastering.
A note: As I will be attending the ceremony, the posting of results here may be delayed.
To watch the awards…
Service to SFWA Recipient
Filed in Authors, Awards, SFWA | Steven H Silver, April 26, 2014 9:36 am | Comments (0)
Tags: Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award, Michael A. Armstrong, Service to SFWA Award, SFWA
Michael Armstrong has been announced as the recipient of this year's Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award for his work on numerous committees since the 1980s, including the Contracts Committee, the Bylaws Committee, and the Grievance Committee. Armstrong has also served on Nebula Juries and multiple terms as Western Regional Director.The presentation will be made during the Nebula Awards weekend in San Jose, California the weekend of May 15-18.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Custom built Urban Farmhouse style by Hayes Barton Custom Homes. Hardwood floors throughout first floor. Huge gourmet kitchen with large center island overlooking family room and open to breakfast area. 3 car garage. Screen porch with fp. Master suite with lux bath and closet. Laundry room has second door into master closet. Coffered ceilings in dining and family room. Built in bookcases beside fp. Third floor plumb and set for future finish if needed.


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For further information on tradeshows and back Office services, please contact us.


text:
Junk foods can lead to addiction, study suggests
The researchers found that the levels of the D2 dopamine receptors were significantly reduced in the brains of the obese animals, similar to what happens in human drug addicts, Kenny said. So as the pleasure centres in the brains became less responsive, the rats ate even more compulsively, in an effort to get "their fix."
http://toronto.ctv.ca
CTV.ca News Staff
Tim Hortons' doughnuts are lined up in a box in New York, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. The Canadian doughnut chain moved into 12 former Dunkin Donut locations earlier in the month, bringing new blood to the doughnut war in America's most competitive market. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
When it comes to potato chips, cookies or chocolates, it's hard to stop at just one. Now, new research may explain why: junk food can actually become addictive — even as addictive as heroin, the new research suggests.
Researchers in the U.S. have found that rats that had access to an unhealthy diet that included everything from bacon to chocolate to fat-laden desserts got so "hooked" on the foods that they refused to eat anything else, and needed more and more just to feel satisfied.
While it's too soon to say whether the findings in the rats might also apply to humans, the researchers say the study certainly helps shed more light on the emerging area of food addiction and compulsive bingeing.
The study, conducted by Scripps Research Institute neuropsychopharmacologist Paul J. Kenny and graduate student Paul M. Johnson, is published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. It looked at rats given access to two kinds of diets:
* One group of rats ate a healthy, balanced diet
* The other group received regular healthy meals, but had also access to high-calorie foods and snacks
The rats in the second group quickly developed a preference for the high-calorie food. When they were given unlimited access to the foods, they began eating it all day long. Within 40 days, the body weight of the rats in that group had risen 25 per cent.
"They always went for the worst types of food, and as a result, they took in twice the calories as the control rats," Kenny said in a news release announcing the findings.
The rats not only became obese, they also showed addiction-like changes in their brains — the same changes that have been reported in humans addicted to drugs.
Specifically, the obese rats showed altered levels of a receptor in the brain called the D2 dopamine receptor. The D2 receptor responds to dopamine, the brain chemical that is released in the brain by pleasurable experiences, such as sex or drugs like cocaine.
The more junk food the rats ate, the more they overloaded the brain's reward centre. Kenny says the same thing happens in those who become addicted to drugs. The reward pathways in the brain become so over-stimulated that the system essentially turns on itself.
"The body adapts remarkably well to change — and that's the problem," said Kenny. "When the animal over-stimulates its brain pleasure centres with highly palatable food, the systems adapt by decreasing their activity. However, now the animal requires constant stimulation from palatable food to avoid entering a persistent state of negative reward."
The addictions became so intense that the rats still sought out the unhealthy foods even if it meant risking pain.
Before the experiment began, the rats had been trained to expect a minor shock to their feet shortly after a cue light began to flash. But when the rats that had unlimited access to high-calorie food were shown the cue light, they braved the shock so that they could keep on eating.
Kenny's team then decided to see what would happen when they cut off all access to the junk-food-addicted rats' "drug." They removed the junk food and replaced it with an exclusively nutritious diet.
The result? The rats simply refused to eat.
"The change in their diet preference was so great that they basically starved themselves for two weeks after they were cut off from junk food," Kenny said.
The rats that had begun to eat most compulsively and that showed the greatest changes in their brains were the most likely to refuse any food.
"These same rats were also those that kept on eating even when they anticipated being shocked," Kenny said.
To take the experiment one step further, the researchers artificially knocked out the D2 dopamine receptor in some of the rats, using a special virus. They found that the treated with the virus developed compulsive eating much faster – but only among those eating the tasty, unhealthy food. The rats eating the healthy diet continued to eat as normal. But when they were switched over to junk food, they also very rapidly showed addiction-like changes.
"The very next day after we provided access to the palatable food, their brains changed into a state that was consistent with an animal that had been overeating for several weeks," Kenny said.
It's unclear is the results among rats apply to people, who, of course, are able to use reason in their food choices. But the researchers say this is the first study to support the idea that overeating of tasty but unhealthy food can become habitual, and that the same brain changes seen in drug addicts can also occur to junk food addiction.
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100329/junkfood_100329/20100329/?hub=TorontoNewHome
Risks: Fast food is addictive, Obesity, Physical health deterioration, Predictably Irrational: people act less rationally than you can ever imagine, Your mind is tricked quite easily, Canada, 20100329 Junk foods
tim_hortons


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Trakošćansko jezero umjetno je jezero smješteno u sjeverozapadnom dijelu Hrvatskog zagorja, na dodiru Macelja, Ravne gore i Strahinjčice. Nalazi se uz istoimeni dvorac obitelji Drašković. Uz jezero se nalazi pomno oblikovani pejzažni park koji s uređenim livadama, raznovrsnim cvijećem i grmljem čini skladnu hortikularnu cjelinu. Jezero je dugo oko kilometar i pol, čija površina iznosi oko 17 hektara, a dubina oko 2,5 metra. Voda se ljeti ugrije i do 22 °C. U zimi se površina jezera zaleđuje i led na njoj ostaje oko tri mjeseca. Od samog nastanka jezero je imalo dvojaku funkciju - gospodarsku, kao ribnjak i estetsku, kao dekorativni element uobičajen u romantičarskoj parkovnoj arhitekturi. Uz samo jezero uređene su pješačke staze, koje taj prostor pretvaraju u jedinstveno šetalište. No jezero nema samo estetsku ulogu, već se u njemu prije nalazio ribnjak, potom mlin i pilana. I danas je bogato ribom, osobito pastrvskim grgečom, pa je omiljeno sastajalište športskih ribolovaca.

Literatura
 Tanocki Zvonimir, Crljenko, Ivana, Jezera Hrvatske, Zagreb, Školska knjiga, 2011., str. 228.,

Jezera u Hrvatskoj

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text: Q: Virtual Box X86_64 not working I have virtualbox installed on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. I want to install Arch linux 64-bit on it. But I cannot 64-bit versions of any os I want to run. Please tell me what I have to do. Thank You for your time.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Power up: The technology heralding the future of gaming
Gaming is more than just big business -- it has a reach, importance and influence that belies its once niche status. Gaming has overtaken the film and music industries combined in terms of revenue, and has become an entertainment juggernaut -- a true cross-industry moneymaker. Gaming has also been acknowledged not just as a global cultural phenomenon but also as a major of engagement platform. After all, savvy politicians are making their way into the world of Among Us players streaming on Twitch, or hosting potential voters on their island in Animal Crossing.
by Miles Weaver
Origin shield: Protecting your backends
When it comes to deploying video -- both on-demand and live -- content and delivering with a good quality of experience (QoE), there is no one-size-fits-all approach. But for almost any video streaming company, a multi-CDN strategy is needed to ensure that QoE and the ability to scale up to deliver it.
by Alexandra Barcelona
Why and when do you need a hybrid or multi-CDN strategy?
Video traffic makes up at least 80% of the content that gets delivered, and as the demand for smooth video streaming continues to dominate, the ways in which content gets delivered are becoming more creative and more customized.
One of the most common ways to satisfy the unpredictable nature of video traffic is to adopt a hybrid approach, or a multi-CDN strategy, letting content owners, broadcasters and technology companies deploy resources flexibly where and as needed to deliver superior video experiences at scale.


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September 17, 2021 / xeyeti
Last night, I didn't sleep much. I was too busy processing the end to the pencil and paper RPG I've been playing with some friends over Discord for the past year or so.
It's not that any of us don't want to play anymore. We're all going to turn around and jump straight into a new game with new characters here in a week or two. But the game had reached a certain point. We'd done what the game master, my dear friend Ev, had wanted the game to do. It wasn't that he didn't like the characters or the setting. No, far from it, we all loved where we were and who we were in this game. But that was part of the problem: to run the game, Ev had to be at least a little detached from the characters we were playing in case one of them accidentally died. And that distance didn't exist anymore. And the reasoning behind the game – Ev, as a social scientist, always has so many layers to what he wants to do and why he wants to do something – well, we'd kinda accomplished what he wanted to with it. We all agreed we'd reached a natural stopping point for the game.
It's not that we couldn't or wouldn't have gladly run those characters until we died. We would've. My character – a young woodsman named Hogarth who'd become a shaman and an avatar of a dragon god, who'd fashioned himself into a magical living weapon who could do more damage with a punch than he ever could with his bow and arrow – was a chance for me to have entirely too much fun doing ill-advised things and just hoping the healer would have enough pieces of me leftover afterwards to put me back together (he usually did). I kinda love Hogarth, that goofy sunnuvabitch. But we'd helped Ev reach his goal – which I'm being purposely coy about, because it's his business and not yours – and so we stopped.
And that was hard. We hated to end it. I hate knowing that Hogarth will go on more adventures that I won't get to be a part of. That we may never return to this setting, these characters, ever again. It's a lot to process. I didn't get as invested in the characters as my fellow players did – just not in my personality to do so, I guess – but I admit to being a little sad that we're done with that game, while I'm also looking forward to what we do next.
← Playlist #20
Playlist #21 – So Tired Edition →


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Uchana is a developing town and a municipal committee, near city of Jind in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana.

Education
Uchana has many government and private schools up to senior secondary level (both English and Hindi medium) and four colleges. Ch. Birender Singh, Cabinet Minister in Government of India founded a college named Rajiv Gandhi Mahavidyalaya affiliated to Kurukshetra University and a Nursing college at the outskirts of town (on NH 352, near village Baroda).

Schools
 Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Near Railway Fatak, Uchana
 Govt. Girls Sr. Sec. School, Uchana Mandi
 SD Public School, Railway Road, Near old Bus stand, Uchana
 SSMSD Sr. Sec. School aka Baba Wala School, Uchana Kalan
 Geeta Vidya Mandir High School, Uchana Mandi
 Shivaniaa Public School, Uchana

Colleges
 SD Girls College Uchana
 Shri Ganeshanand College
 Rajiv Gandhi Mahavidlaya

Demographics
 India census, Uchana had a population of 14,100. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Uchana has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 74%. In Uchana, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Politics
Uchana (Vidhan Sabha constituency) is always a hot seat in Haryana constituency elections. Premlata (Wife Of Ch. Birender Singh, Union Minister in Modi Cabinet) was elected as MLA (candidate of BJP.) in 2014 while the current MLA is Dushyant Chautala (deputy chief minister of haryana state) after a massive win in 2019 elections. In the general election Uchana comes under Hisar (Lok Sabha constituency) and Brijendra Singh is MP.

Railways and Roadways
Uchana (UCA) is a railway station on Delhi-Jind-Narwana-Jakhal section of Delhi-Fazilka line that connects Delhi to Punjab. From Uchana, passengers can get direct trains to Jind, Narwana, Delhi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Katra, Jammu, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Panipat, Hisar, Sirsa, Jakhal, Firozpur and many other cities.

It is well connected by the road services as well. Privately owned buses and other vehicles run for short routes like Uchana to Jind, Narwana, , Hansi, Hisar, Gogharia, Karsindhu etc. Long route direct buses are also available for Delhi, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Jammu etc. It is situated on the busy route of Delhi to Sangrur on National Highway 71.

Nearest airport is IGI Airport, New Delhi - 165 km distance (about 3.5 hours ride).

References

Cities and towns in Jind district


It's getting a little mad at Bolton Valley this March as skiers and riders who purchase their 2013-2014 All Access Season Pass literally will ski and ride off into the sunset for free this spring. Plus, passes for those ages 7-17 start at $99. A family of four can save $360 when they purchase passes before April 1.
Bolton Valley's 2013-2014 All-Access Season Pass is on sale now and includes new Senior passes as well as a new Night Pass. In addition, those who purchase their passes before the April 1 deadline will ski and ride for free every day of the remainder of the 2012-2013 season.


Looking for Teeth Whitening in Ormond Beach? For an appointment at Tomoka Family Dentistry call our office today at 386-672-8175 or make an appointment today.
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LATINO HERITAGE MONTH 2022
CINE CON CULTURA 2022
DANCE 2022
Bien acompañada
LatinX Art Show
Cine Con Cultura Film Festival
Antojitos
Cafe Con Cultura
↵ HOME
CINE CON CULTURA
Each fall during Latinx Heritage Month, film lovers of all ages gather in Ithaca for the New York's Latinx American film festival: Cine con Cultura. Festival screenings will take place several times a week from Tuesday, September 15th, 2020 through Wednesday, October 14th, 2020.
2020 marks our six annual celebration of Latin American filmmakers from all over the continent, and we are so proud to announce our official festival selection for this year, which includes 14 films. Some are brand new, some are from a few years ago, and all of them provide a different glimpse into life throughout Latin America and the US.
We are also thrilled to continue collaborating with Ithaca organizations this year: in addition to our longtime partners Cinemapolis, Ithaca College, and Cornell Cinema, we are also teaming up with the Multicultural Resource Center, the Tompkins County Immigrant Rights Coalition, the LGBTQI Center at Ithaca College, the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF), and the Committee on US-Latin American Relations (CUSLAR).
For more information visit culturaithaca.com and check out our social media pages on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Cineconcultura), Twitter (@cineconcultura), and Instagram (cineconcultura) and follow us for ongoing updates.
Several professors are collaborating with the film festival including the festival's director Dr. Enrique González-Conty, and Cornell professors Dr. Cecelia Lawless and Dr. Debra Castillo.
Several films are free and open to the public and to buy tickets go to Cinemapolis and Cornell Cinema's websites.
Epicentro is an immersive and metaphorical portrait of post-colonial, "utopian" Cuba, where the 1898 explosion of the U.S.S. Maine still resonates. This Big Bang ended Spanish colonial dominance in the Americas and ushered in the era of the American Empire. At the same time and place, a powerful tool of conquest was born: cinema as propaganda. In his latest film, Academy Award nominee Hubert Sauper (Darwin's Nightmare) explores a century of interventionism and myth-making together with the extraordinary people of Havana—who he calls "young prophets"—to interrogate time, imperialism and cinema itself. (Kinomarquee.com)
(Cuba/Austria, 2020)
By Hubert Sauper
108 minutes / documentary
Sept. 15 through Sept. 24, 2020
Winner of the Best Documentary award at the Cannes Film Festival, master filmmaker Patricio Guzmán's The Cordillera of Dreams completes his trilogy (with Nostalgia for the Light and The Pearl Button) investigating the relationship between historical memory, political trauma, and geography in his native country of Chile. It centers on the imposing landscape of the Andes that run the length of the country's Eastern border. At once protective and isolating, magisterial and indifferent, the Cordillera serves as an enigmatic focal point around which Guzmán contemplates the enduring legacy of the 1973 military coup d'état.
Along the way, Guzmán interviews artists, writers, and documentarians, drawing out their conflicted feelings towards the Cordillera and its relationship to Chilean national identity and history. Among the interviewees are Vincente Gajardo and Francisco Gazitúa, sculptors who draw from the raw materials of the Cordillera to produce their artwork. Jorge Baradoit, a writer of history and fiction, discusses the continuation of Pinochet's project in the social and economic structure of contemporary Chile. Musician Javiera Parra remembers the violence she witnessed as a child. The film's prominent moral voice is Pablo Salas, a filmmaker and archivist who has worked since the 1980s to document acts of political resistance and state violence. (cinema.cornell.edu)
The Cordillera of Dreams
(Chile, 2019)
By Patricio Guzmán
85 minutes / documentary
Free w/reservation. Reservations open one week in advance of the first playdate.
Ana is a divorced architect with two daughters. There is a possibility for Ana in her work: a project that would mean moving to Mexico along with professional advance. In the middle of the separation of her parents, and her dad's cancer diagnosis, Ana will have to make decisions that will affect her entire family. (cinelasamericas.org)
(Costa Rica/Chile, 2019)
By Patricia Velásquez
80 minutes / fiction
Sept. 19, 2020 at 7pm
through Sept. 22, 2020 - Free
Morgana is a Mexican transgender opera singer with a dream: a sex reassignment surgery. We follow her odyssey all the way to Bangkok as she fights for the identity she has been struggling all her life to construct.
Made in Bangkok
(Mexico, 2015)
By Flávio Florencio
Based on harrowing true events, Song Without a Name tells the story of Georgina, an indigenous Andean woman whose newborn baby is whisked away moments after its birth in a downtown Lima clinic—and never returned. Stonewalled by a byzantine and indifferent legal system, Georgina approaches journalist Pedro Campas, who uncovers a web of fake clinics and abductions—suggesting a necrotic corruption deep within Peruvian society. (cinema.cornell.edu).
Song Without a Name/ Canción sin nombre
(Perú, 2019)
By Melina León
97 minutes/ fiction
Sept. 25 through Oct. 1st, 2020
When they were young, Melisa Liebenthal and her friends were really close. Now the filmmaker is an adult, she and her friends look back on their childhoods and teen years, and how they developed into women. To this end, she filmed them during dinner parties and talked to them individually with photo albums at the ready. Liebenthal and her friends reminisced using these.
How did they feel as children? What was puberty like for them? How do they see themselves now? But also: why are women still expected to primarily be attractive? In the meantime, Liebenthal reflects on her uncomfortable relationship with the camera using her own childhood photos and videos. Why is she mistaken for a lesbian or even a man so often? Why does she seem to deviate from the norm and what is that actually? This playful, autobiographical reconstruction of her still-young life attempts to unravel the essential life questions facing this woman in her 20s. (iffr.com)
Las lindas/
The Pretty Ones
(Argentina, 2016)
By Melisa Liebenthal
The documentary "Fait Vivir" follows the month-long Colombian tour of the collective Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra from the mountains of Cali, country of the salsa, to the Caribbean city of Barranquilla, home of the cumbia. (Radio Canadá Internacional).
Fait Vivir
(Colombia, 2020)
By Oscar Ruiz Navia
Sept. 30th, 2020 at 7pm
through Oct. 2, 2020 - Free
Inspired by the actual case of Colonia Dignidad (The Dignity Colony, a remote, Chilean Nazi sect founded after WWII), The Wolf House masquerades as an animated fairy tale, photographed to appear as one continuous shot, waiting for the wolf at the door. Maria, a young woman, finds refuge in a house in the south of Chile after escaping from the sect of German religious fanatics. Two pigs, the only occupants of the house, welcome her inside. Like in a dream, the universe of the house reacts to Maria's feelings. The animals transform slowly into humans and the house becomes a nightmarish world unto itself. (cinema.cornell.edu).
The Wolf House/
By Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León. 73 Minutes / Stop Motion
Oct. 2 though Oct. 8, 2020
Addiction has made 28-year-old Isabella a living hell, and her family is desperate to pull her out of it. Rehab centers are apparently the best option, but she will soon realize that she has to fight in order to gain her freedom. (imdb.com).
Azules Turquesas
(Ecuador, 2019)
By Mónica Mancero
Oct. 3, 2020 at 7pm
This documentary film portrays the current lives of the Ramón Carrillo neighborhood in the city of Buenos Aires. It follows the people who were forced to move 25 years ago from the buildings that were built for the biggest pediatric hospital in Latin America called the "Albergue Warnes" and are now facing similar gentrification threats.
Los relocalizados
By Darío Arcella
Oct. 8, 2020 7pm
through Oct. 11, 2020 - Free
History haunts the border town of Columbus, N.M. when Mexican riders on horseback cross the line to commemorate Pancho Villa's 1916 raid. As border dwellers and their divergent accounts of the Villa raid are introduced, the more subtle work a borderline does in shaping their lives comes into focus. (Ashland Independent Film Festival).
Crossing Columbus
(USA, 2020)
By Cathy Lee Crane
Oct. 9 though Oct. 14, 2020
**Q&A with filmmaker Cathy Lee Crane on Oct. 14 at 7:30pm at Cornell Cinema
A man tries to cope with the death of his sister, but he can't because he must continue working with the illegal business of bringing undocumented immigrants from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico. (imdb.com).
El silencio del viento
(Puerto Rico, 2017)
By Álvaro Aponte Centeno
Oct. 11, 2020 at 7pm
¡Las Sandinistas! uncovers the untold stories of women who shattered barriers to lead combat and social reform during Nicaragua's 1979 Sandinista Revolution, and the ensuing US-backed Contra War, as these same women continue as leaders in the struggle against their current government's suppression of democracy and women's rights.
The film is centered around the personal stories of Dora Maria Téllez, the young medical student who became a major Sandinista General, and four of her revolutionary allies - Nicaraguan women who overcame traditional gender barriers and subverted stereotypes to lead rebel troops in battle and reshape their country with landmark social reform. ¡Las Sandinistas! exposes a watershed moment in history when thousands of women transformed society's definition of womanhood and leadership before facing renewed marginalization by their male peers after the wars ended. Now, 35 years later, amidst staggering levels of gender violence in Nicaragua, these same women brave the streets once again to lead popular movements for equality and democracy. (lassandinistas.com)
Las sandinistas
(Nicaragua, 2018)
By Jenny Murray
Young Brazilians make history in this radical document. Initially they are fighting for education, then their subversive actions take on a new dimension. (imdb.com).
Espero tua (re)volta/
(Brazil, 2019)
By Eliza Capai
© 2023 by ABC After School Programs. Proudly created with Wix.com
CulturaIthaca@gmail.com
Find out more at the Latino Civic Association office in the Ithaca History Center, 110 N Tioga Street


Enjoy the downtown location of the Victoria Suites, perfect for short term stays. Close to all the great amenities that Victoria has to offer. This new, luxury 2 bedroom suite, commands stunning views of the city. Its prime location on Burdett Street, puts it in the heart of the trendy vernment Street shopping district. Within walking access to the Victoria inner harbour, The Empress Hotel, Victoria's world class restaurants, art galleries, and the Bay shopping centre. Enjoy complimentary; breakfast at Vista 18 ask for details, local calls, High Speed Internet, parking, daily morning newspaper, photocopying, and use of fitness facilities.


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Special award often "the last bastion of protection" for insureds
Plaintiffs' counsel must be watchdogs for clients, says Thomson Rogers' Leonard Kunka
Leonard Kunka, partner at Thomson Rogers Lawyers.
BY Mallory Hendry 06 Oct 2021
In some cases the last bastion of protection for insureds is the Special Award, and Leonard Kunka, partner at Thomson Rogers Lawyers, believes it's something counsel who are acting for injured people should use to keep insurers in check.
Kunka advises his fellow counsel to "look more closely at situations where you believe the insurer has failed or repeatedly failed to follow the legislation when dealing with a particular claim, or where the Insurer uses the system against the injured person by trying to make it as expensive as possible to dispute a denial."
"That's an appropriate time for counsel to seek a Special Award. The Special Award is one of the few ways to even the playing field and protect plaintiffs in the face of accident benefits legislation that in large part favours insurance companies."
There are many ways insurers can treat their insureds unfairly, and unfortunately, it's something Kunka sees all the time: adjusters denying treatment plans or claims for benefits without proper support; consistent late payment of benefits; or waiting until the last possible moment to deny a claim and then requesting an assessment to further delay payment of a claim or treatment plan.
Kunka says it is a fallacy to suggest that an injured party can navigate the accident benefits system and dispute process on their own. "The process to dispute a denial is cumbersome and expensive, and it appears that some insurers deliberately use the system to make challenging a denial as expensive as possible, to discourage insureds from challenging denials." Under the current system, if a dispute goes to the License Appeals Tribunal (LAT), insureds are no longer automatically entitled to costs even if they're successful in their claim, which further stacks the deck against the insured. Many counsel won't take on those battles because the cost of taking a dispute through a LAT hearing often exceeds the amount in dispute. "If you don't get costs at the LAT, even if you win, you lose," Kunka says.
This issue is one Kunka feels strongly about, so much so he's been fighting a catastrophic impairment case for over 12 years. He can't think of many counsel who would have taken a dispute as far as Thomson Rogers has, but he "feels strongly that the insurer completely mistreated my client and they should be held accountable when they fail to follow the legislation and deny claims without proper grounds for doing so."
In Waldock v. State Farm the insurer took the position that Kunka's client wasn't catastrophic, even though Kunka says it should have been clear to the insurer on the medical evidence that he was. Kunka says the arbitration was a clear example of an insurer denying catastrophic impairment without proper support, and nevertheless forcing the insured to proceed with an arbitration to establish that his injuries were catastrophic. At the arbitration, the insurer continued to rely upon an insurer assessment which failed to apply the legislative test for establishing catastrophic impairment. The insured's catastrophic assessors outlined how State Farm's catastrophic assessment failed to follow the AMA guidelines, and failed to properly apply the test for catastrophic impairment. The arbitrator found Kunka's client was catastrophic, and highlighted the insurer's lack of proper support for denying the claim as well as the insurer's failure to call their catastrophic assessor as a witness to defend the insurer's denial.
Following the finding of catastrophic impairment, Kunka brought an application for a Special Award on the basis that i) the insurer had no good reason for denying catastrophic impairment, ii) the insurer relied upon a flawed report that didn't comply with the legislation and AMA guidelines, and iii) despite knowing that the insurer's assessment failed to follow the legislation, State Farm forced a seriously injured man through years of fighting to confirm that his injuries were catastrophic and that he was entitled to benefits based on a catastrophic designation.
Kunka's client was granted outstanding benefits arising from the finding of catastrophic impairment plus a Special Award of over $100,000, plus interest — but it's been another seven years of fighting as the insurer "appealed at every possible level, fabricating spurious arguments about the interpretation of the arbitrator's award, all in an effort to avoid having to pay the Special Award."
Kunka feels "the insurer's multiple attempts to appeal the award was consistent with their bad faith treatment of their insured, and indicative of their mindset that they can deny claims without proper foundation, and get away with it by making the process as expensive as possible for the insured."
After a final unsuccessful attempt to appeal the arbitrator's award to the Court of Appeal, the insurer paid part of the award, but is still arguing about the interest calculation.
Over the years the insurance industry has successfully lobbied to reduce the calculation of interest on overdue benefits from 2% per month compounded to 1% per month compounded, which has further diluted what was a significant check on insurance companies, Kunka notes. While insurers have a right to dispute claims, if they don't follow the legislation or they deny a claim for benefits or treatment that a court or arbitrator later finds was reasonable and necessary, the special award and interest are designed to deter insurers from denying claims without just grounds.
Injured people need income replacement benefits, medical and rehabilitation services or attendant care when they are trying to recuperate from an injury, not several years later, Kunka says, and it's appropriate that there should be a significant punishment for denying much-needed treatment or benefits unreasonably.
While he's sure the insurer in Waldock was hoping their insured would be frightened away by the cost or simply get tired of fighting, Kunka refuses to back down. There were appropriate grounds for the Special Award he notes, and while the legislation doesn't do enough to protect injured people, it has provisions in it to ensure plaintiffs are treated fairly "and we have to take insurers to task in appropriate circumstances."
"The only way to make insurers accountable — and hopefully get the legislature to correct some of the inequities in the system— is by having counsel push more regularly for Special Awards and by the LAT granting them when insurers have behaved improperly," Kunka says. "That's how things will change, and it's incumbent on counsel who act for plaintiffs to be the watchdogs."
This article was produced in partnership with Thomson Rogers Lawyers.
Recent decision highlights plaintiff's ability to recover compensation under Marine Liability Act
Leveraging research on TBI makes PI lawyers better advocates