THOMSON S.A'S NOTICE OF INABILITY TO ATTEND STATUS CONFERENCE

SAMUEL CONTI, District Judge.

Defendant Thomson S.A. files this Notice of Inability to Attend in connection with the status conference scheduled for September 13, 2013.

On July 2, 2013, the Court entered an Order Setting Status Conference [Dkt. No. 1758] requiring "[a]ll principle parties and lawyers . . . to appear" for a hearing on September 13, 2013 to discuss "the progress of the case and the prospects for its efficient resolution." (Order at 1.) The Court ordered that attendance is mandatory, but provided: "If a party believes it has a valid excuse for not being present and represented at the hearing, it should file a notice explaining the reasons for its absence, no later than one week before the hearing date." (Id. at 2.)

Outside counsel for specially appearing Defendant Thomson S.A., Kathy Osborn of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, will attend the conference to represent Thomson S.A. Thomson S.A. requests, however, that it be excused from attending and that the Court allow its counsel, Ms. Osborn, to attend on its behalf. Thomson S.A. is a French holding company with its principal place of business located in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France, and it does not have any presence (such as operations, employees, or offices) in the United States. Because it lacks minimum contacts with the United States, it has filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction [Dkt. No. 1765] the claims alleged against it in this action, which Motion is now pending before the Court.

Thomson S.A. therefore respectfully requests that the Court excuse Thomson S.A. from attending the conference and permit its counsel, Ms. Osborn of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, to represent it at the conference.1