N OTE : This order is nonprecedential

. 

# United States **Court of Appeals**  **for the Federal Circuit**

______________________

In re : FREELANCER LIMITED,

Petitioner

______________________

2021

- 151

______________________

On Petition for Writ of Mandamus to the United States
District Court for the Western District of Texas in No. 6:20

-

cv

- 00738

- ADA, Judge Alan D. Albright.

______________________

ON PETI TION AND MOTION

______________________

Before T ARANTO

, H UGHES

, and S TOLL

, Circuit Judges

.
S TOLL

, Circuit Judge

.
O R D E R

Freelancer Limited petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the United States District Court for the Western
District of Texas to stay all further proceedings in this case pending resolution of Freelancer’s motion to dismis s

. Freelancer also moves , pursuant to Federal Circuit Rule 8(b)

, for a stay pending its petition.

In August 2020, Great G igz Solutions, LLC filed a complaint in the Western District of Texas, alleging that Freelancer infring es two patents. Freelancer moved to dismiss
Great G igz’s complaint for failure to state a claim upon Case: 21-151 Document: 8 Page: 1 Filed: 06/16/2021IN RE : FREELANCER LIMITED 2

which relief could be granted by the court . In response,
Great G igz filed an amended complaint on November 23,

2020

. On January 21, 2021, Freelancer mo ved to dismiss

th e amended complaint on the same ground . Great G igz filed an opposition to the motion on February 18, 2021

. Freelancer filed a re p ly on March 4, 2021. The motion to dismiss remains pending before the district court.

While the motion to dismiss was being briefed, the district court approved the parties’ agreed scheduling order
that set forth dates for

, inter alia

, claim construction briefing, a Markman hearing, and discovery. O n March 2 6

, 2021 , Freelancer moved to stay proceedings pending the
district court’s resolution of Freelancer’s motion to dismiss the complaint

. That stay motion was fully briefed on April 21, 2021 . The district court has also not taken any action
on that motion . On May 27, 2021, GreatGigz filed its opening claim construction brief. One week before its response
brief wa s due, Fr eelancer filed this petition and motion seeking t o stay a ll pending deadlines.

Mandamus is “reserved for extraordinary situations.” Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp. , 485 U.S. 271, 289 (1988) (citation omitted). Under the well

- established standard for obtaining such relief, the petitioner must: (1) show that it has a clear and indisputable legal right; (2) show that it does not have any other avenue to
obtai n relief; and (3) convince the court that the “writ is appropriate under the circumstances.” Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for D.C. , 542 U.S. 367, 380

– 81 (2004) (citation omitted).

Freelancer has not met that exacting standard

.
Freelancer has identified no authority establishing a clear legal right to a stay of all proceedings premised solely
on the f iling of a motion to dismiss the complaint . Nor are

we prepared to say, at this juncture

, that any delay in failing to resolv e either of Freelancer’s pending motions to dismiss and stay proceedings is so unreasonable or egregious

a s to warrant mandamus relief. We note that significant Case: 21-151 Document: 8 Page: 2 Filed: 06/16/2021IN RE : FREELANCER LIMITED 3

additional delay may alter our assessment of the mandamus factors in the future. We expect , however, that the
district court will soon address the pending motion to dismiss or alternatively grant a s tay.

Accordingly

,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :

(1) The petition is denied.

(2) The motion to stay is denied as moot.

June 16 , 2021
Date F OR THE C OURT

/s/ Peter R. Marksteiner
Peter R. Marksteiner
Clerk of Court

s3 1 Case: 21-151 Document: 8 Page: 3 Filed: 06/16/2021