The joint defense agreement between Nintendo and Advanced Micro Devices made their talks about litigation private but also said the JDA and actions under its veil would not provide either Nintendo or AMD grounds to disqualify counsel for the other company.
An in-house lawyer for AMD left the company for a job as partner at a law firm, which in due course sued Nintendo for patent infringement. Nintendo moved to DQ the law firm. The district court granted the motion.
Who wins the firm's petition for writ of mandamus?
The law firm, of course — on the strength of the waiver of the right to DQ in the JDA. In re Shared Memory Graphics LLC, Misc. No. 978 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 22, 2011).