When I was young, I had a pet crab. Not a hermit crab, but a big honking giant land crab. He lived in a terrarium in my room and I would wave at him every day when I left for school. He would wave back. This is the best part of having a crab.
What you might not know about crabs, is that they're smart. They are curious creatures that will spend their whole day wandering around foraging. They will slowly stack rocks in one corner of their tank to make a ramp. They will specifically make this ramp in the corner of the tank that has the inlet for the water filter. They will (somehow) remove the clamps holding the top down and seize freedom at any cost. It's pretty much like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park.
Longtime readers will have guessed that this story is leading to a development in the Mavexar saga. And readers, I will not disappoint you. Just hours ago, Judge Connolly issued a memorandum order in the Nimitz case setting an in-person hearing "to show cause why [counsel] and Nimitz should not be sanctioned for failure to comply with the November 10 Memorandum Order." Nimitz Technologies LLC v. CNET Media, Inc. C.A. No. 21-1247-CFC (D. Del. Apr. 4, 2023) (Mem. Order).
When last we discussed this particular case back in December, Nimitz's Mandamus petition was denied and Judge Connolly had ordered them to show cause why they had not produced various documents. Nimitz responded, in part, by arguing that the Court lacked jurisdiction over the case because the Federal Circuit had not yet issued its mandate. Judge Connolly disposed of that argument today:
On December 8, the Federal Circuit issued a written order in which it "ORDERED THAT: The petition is denied, and the stay is lifted." The Federal Circuit did not issue an opinion with its order. Therefore, the order served as the Court's judgment. The Federal Circuit did not direct in its December 8 order that a formal mandate issue. Accordingly, the order itself constituted the mandate.
Id. at 1-2 (internal citations omitted).
The opinion goes on to discuss the subsequent history of the appeal -- with a petition for re-hearing denied in January and a request to stay the mandate denied in February -- before getting to the goods:
It has now been almost two months since the Federal Circuit's last mandate issued, thereby returning these cases to the jurisdiction of this Court. Nimitz, however, has still not complied with the November 10 Memorandum Order.
So now a hearing is set for April 11th at 2:00. For my money, if you go to just one hearing this month it should be this one. Look for me there, I'll be wearing a fedora with a little slip of paper with "PRESS" written on it slipped into the hatband.
P.S.
My cat eventually found legs two days after he escaped. They had cornered one another in a hallway and were engaged in a tense but ultimately non-violent standoff. Legs lived many more years with a pile of rocks stacked on top of his enclosure, although he escaped thrice more he was always caught immediately in a tiny water dish I left nearby.
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