Overcharging claims against CPA dismissed after settlement approved

A US judge has dismissed claims of patent overcharging against CPA Global after approving a final settlement with the plaintiff, Run Them Sweet (RTS).

The medical diagnostic company had filed a class action lawsuit alleging that it was overcharged for foreign patent renewal fees by CPA Global.

In March, the parties settled the case, with CPA Global agreeing to pay $5.6 million in a settlement in which no fault was admitted.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division had preliminarily approved the settlement agreement and said it did not receive any objections to the deal.

In two orders issued on October 6, Judge T S Ellis III approved the final settlement and judgment. He said the settlement is fair, adequate, reasonable and in the best interests of the settlement class.

The class is defined as all former and current CPA Global patent holder clients in the US that were introduced to the firm by an “introducer agent” between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016. The settlement also dictated that these clients had 20 or fewer (and no more than 40) non-US patent renewals performed by CPA Global in that period.

Ellis dismissed the claims of RTS and the settlement class, and said the parties shall bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees

According to Ellis, RTS, all class members in the settlement and the remaining “releasing parties” (such as any future RTS companies) will release their claims against CPA Global forever.

RTS will also be permanently barred from filing litigation against CPA Global in any jurisdiction based on the claims, he added.

According to the court, the settlement agreement does not amount to an admission of liability or fault by CPA.

RTS had claimed that the invoices it received did not explain a breakdown of charges and that this was an “unfair practice”. RTS also alleged that CPA Global’s contracts had been misleading.

The dismissal comes as CPA Global has more allegations of patent overcharging hanging over it.

In September, WIPR reported that law firms Kobre & Kim and Baker & Partners have joined forces with litigation finance company Bentham IMF to investigate and possibly sue CPA Global over the alleged overcharging for patent renewal services.

The firms, which are also working with Patent Annuity Costs (which consults with patent owners on how to manage patent annuities), allege that CPA Global has engaged in the “systematic and widespread overcharging of clients”.

No actions are yet underway and it is unclear whether or when one might be launched.

According to a statement from the law firms, the legal proceedings would be commenced in Jersey, where CPA Global is incorporated.

However, CPA Global previously told WIPR that it “categorically and emphatically denies any wrongdoing in our business. The fees for our service are defined in our agreements with our customers, and we adhere to those agreements fully”.

The company added: “We consider any speculation about future litigation that might or might not take place to be a deliberate attempt to tarnish our good business reputation and, as we always have, will continue to vigorously defend ourselves against any such vexatious speculation.”

CPA Global is prohibited by the terms of the RTS settlement from offering further comment on that case.

In August this year, private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners agreed to buy CPA Global for a reported £2.4 billion ($3.1 billion).

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