Wang v. Yangqin*27 et al

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Upon consideration of Plaintiff's Response to the Court's October 5, 2026, Order to Show Cause Regarding Joinder ("Joinder Memorandum," Dkt. No. 7), along with Exhibits A and B to the Joinder Memorandum, the court determines that Exhibit A's translations of Chinese-language addresses are inadmissible because no translator's certification has been filed. See Standing Order in "Sched. A" Cases 4, Dkt. No. 4 (citing ABC Corp. v. Sched. A Defs., 2022 WL 18937941, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 19, 2022)). Plaintiff also argues that similarities among certain product images, collected in Exhibit B, support joinder of five defendants. See Joinder Mem. 3-4. Plaintiff asserts that these product images appear to have been taken during a single photo session and that, on their face, the images "indicate access to the session's photographs themselves rather than the copying of one image." Id. at 4. No citation or explanation is provided as to why access to the session photographs would have been required to produce the images in Exhibit B. Perhaps this is self-evident to counsel, but this court knows essentially nothing about photo sessions or the capabilities of image editing software. As it stands, the record does not support joinder of the five defendants named in the instant memorandum. If it wishes to do so, plaintiff has until and including October 21, 2026, to supplement the record with any additional evidence it wishes the court to consider. Mailed notice

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: Plaintiff's Notice of Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice as to Certain Defendants 8 is ineffective under binding Seventh Circuit caselaw holding that the proper way to drop fewer than all claims or defendants is to amend the complaint. Taylor v. Brown, 787 F.3d 851, 857-58 (7th Cir. 2015) (citing Berthold Types Ltd. v. Adobe Sys. Inc., 242 F.3d 772, 777 (7th Cir. 2001) (other citation omitted)). Plaintiff's right to amend its complaint as a matter of course has not expired. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(1). Accordingly, plaintiff may file an amended complaint if it wishes to drop the defendants named in the instant notice 8. Mailed notice

ORDER Signed by the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall on 10/5/2026. Mailed notice

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall: A joint initial status report is due on or before December 4, 2026. This deadline is subject to extension if all parties have not been served. As a general rule, a joint initial status report should be filed only after all defendants have been served and had an opportunity to participate in the planning conference required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f). Requests to extend the deadline to file a joint initial status report must be made by motion filed in the docket, rather than by contacting court staff. Counsel and parties are directed to familiarize themselves with Judge Gottschall's case procedures, which can be obtained from the following URL: https://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/judge_display.php?LastName=Gottschall. Please review the "Joint Initial Status Report" case procedure for instructions and required contents of the report. Every status report except the joint initial status report must comply with, and include everything listed in, the "Status Reports" case procedure. Mailed notice