Fed. Cir. to Casper Sleep: “You’ve Made Your Bed Now Lie in it”

In Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC v. Casper Sleep Inc., the Fed. Cir. vacated the district court’s grant of summary judgment motions of non-infringement, granted after the parties executed a settlement agreement.  The district court denied Serta Simmons’ motions to enforce the Settlement Agreement, reasoning that the case was not moot since the settlement agreement required the parties to keep the action alive until the parties fulfilled their obligations under the agreement and that after issuance of the summary judgment order, the court lacked jurisdiction.  The Fed. Cir. dismissed Casper’s argument that the settlement agreement did not moot the action because Casper was obligated to make a payment before the parties would file to dismiss the claims.  The Fed. Cir. recognized that a binding settlement generally moots an action despite the fact that the settlement agreement requires further steps to be taken.  The Fed. Cir. noted that district courts are allowed to enforce settlement agreements that occur during litigation.