Well, Judge Stephanos just made another stunning decision, adding to the series of stunning decisions he’s made in this case, including postponing the trial a day before it was to start. He granted ROSS Intelligence’s motion to certify the 2 questions he already decided on summary judgment, including the fair use defense for training ROSS’s AI model:
ORDER: I GRANT Ross’s motion for interlocutory appeal and stay pending appeal. D.I. [786]. Though I remain confident in my February 2025 summary judgment opinion, I recognize that there are substantial grounds for difference of opinion on controlling legal issues in this case.
These issues have the potential to change the shape of the trial. I thus certify the following two questions to the Third Circuit:
(1) whether the West headnotes and West Key Number System are original; and
(2) whether Ross’s use of the headnotes was fair use.
A short opinion further explaining my reasoning will follow. Under the stay, the pretrial conference on April 9, 2025 and the trial the week of May 12, 2025 are postponed pending appeal. Ordered by Judge Stephanos Bibas on 04/03/2025