OTR Wheel Engineering, Inc. v. West Worldwide Services, Inc., Docket No. 16-35897

Judgment as a matter of law: Jury: Waiver:

Rule 50 governs the timing of a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Pursuant to Rule 50(a), a “motion for judgment as a matter of law may be made at any time before the case is submitted to the jury.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(2). If the court does not grant the motion, Rule 50(b) allows a party to file a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law after the judgment is entered. Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b). But “failing to make a Rule 50(a) motion before the case is submitted to the jury forecloses the possibility of considering a Rule 50(b) motion.” Tortu v. Las Vegas Metro. Police Dep’t, 556 F.3d 1075, 1083 (9th Cir. 2009).

Likewise, a “party cannot raise arguments in its post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(b) that it did not raise in its pre-verdict Rule 50(a) motion.” Freund v. Nycomed Amersham, 347 F.3d 752, 761 (9th Cir. 2003). Such arguments are also waived for purposes of appeal. See Farley Transp. Co. v. Santa Fe Trail Transp. Co., 786 F.2d 1342, 1345 (9th Cir. 1985). In his Rule 50(a) motion, West argued that OTR had failed to prove that West removed the Outrigger mark from tires in commerce. West did not mention Dastar or the likelihood of confusion. Thus, these arguments would normally be waived.

But if a party fails to object to a Rule 50(b) motion on the basis of waiver, then the party waives its waiver defense. Graves v. City of Coeur D’Alene, 339 F.3d 828, 838–39 (9^th Cir. 2003) (“Where a defendant does not object to an improperly-filed Rule 50(b) motion, and does not raise the issue of default for failure to abide Rule 50(a) before the trial court, then the procedural flaw in the Rule 50(b) motion is waived . . . .”)

(U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, July 24, 2018, OTR Wheel Engineering, Inc. v. West Worldwide Services, Inc., Docket No. 16-35897, J. Clifton, for publication)

Règle 50 de procédure civile fédérale : la requête en jugement « as a matter of law » peut être déposée en tout temps, mais avant que le cas ne soit soumis au Jury (Règle 50(a)). Si la cour rejette la requête, la partie peut la renouveler après jugement (Règle 50(b)). Mais si la requête n’a pas été déposée avant soumission du cas au Jury, la partie ne pourra pas la déposer après jugement.

Par ailleurs, le requérant ne peut rien alléguer/invoquer dans sa requête 50(b) qui n’ait pas été allégué/invoqué dans sa requête 50(a). Mais si la partie adverse omet de se prévaloir d’une requête 50(b) qui contient des éléments étrangers à la requête 50(a), la cour ne relèvera pas le défaut d’office et une décision sera rendue s’agissant de ces éléments.