Federal Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga in the Southern District of Florida awarded sanctions against the plaintiff in a patent infringement case on Monday, ruling that the company improperly sued and filed three motions in a dispute that should have instead gone straight to arbitration.

Now, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, the plaintiff will pay attorney fees and costs for ignoring binding arbitration clauses in three different agreements. The rule applies only to papers filed in the court, such as pleadings and motions, not attorney misconduct.