Q: If you have not received legal papers yet as a defendant in a case involving multiple defendants, what should you do?
I am asking on behalf of someone else. I believe this is a civil case and the defendant has only heard from a friend about the lawsuit who is also a defendant included in the case.
A: Your friend should contact a patent litigation lawyer for advice. Not engaging in the lawsuit can have serious, permanent consequences as to the determination of your friend’s rights. It is possible that the process server took all required steps to serve your friend, filed affidavits of service, but for some reason your friend didn’t get a copy of the papers (maybe some kids came and ripped it off his door when he wasn’t home). In this case he will have been deemed properly served as a matter of law. Don’t bet on being able to vacate a default judgment later in a case of this complexity, or allowing the case to proceed where the other defendants may seek to shift the liability onto your friend as their defense strategy.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
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