Blue Spring Partners, LLC v. The Individuals, Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships, and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A, No. 23 C 983, (N.D. Ill. May 18, 2026) (Kendall, C.J.).
Chief Judge Kendall denied a non-party’s motion to intervene and for relief from judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) in this trademark and copyright Schedule A case involving swimmable mermaid tails allegedly sold by over 177 e-commerce defendants. The case had been terminated following entry of default judgment more than a year and a half before movant Shenzhenshi Hengzhiyi E-Commerce Co., Ltd. filed its motions.
On intervention, the Court held that motions to intervene after a case has ended are almost always denied as untimely absent unusual circumstances, citing Humphrey v. Sheriff and CE Design Ltd. v. King Supply Co., 791 F.3d 722 (7th Cir. 2015). One cannot intervene in a dismissed case. On the Rule 60(b) motion, the Court held that relief under Rule 60(b)(1) was barred outright because it was filed more than one year after judgment. Even construing the motion under Rule 60(b)(5) or (6), which require filing within a “reasonable time,” the approximately eighteen-month delay was unreasonable given movant’s unconvincing excuses for not learning of the default order sooner. The Court emphasized that Rule 60(b) is not a license to sleep on rights.” Lobrow v. Vill. of Port Barrington, 406 F. App’x 60 (7th Cir. 2010).