Bare-bones counterclaims alleging invalidity of patents-in-suit were held sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and 8(a). Helferich Patent Licensing, LLC v. J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc., No. 11 CV 9143 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 28, 2012). J.C. Penney had pled six nearly identical invalidity counterclaims. Helferich, the plaintiff, “argue[d] J.C. […]
Archive | Notice Pleading Patent Infringement
Fed. Cir. Impact on Patent Pleading Requirements Continues
Following the recent Federal Circuit decision in In re Bill of Lading Transmission and Processing System Patent Litigation, at least one district court has already demonstrated that patent plaintiffs will most definitely have an easier time pleading patent infringement. Now a Delaware court, ruling on complaints in eight cases brought by the same plaintiff, has […]
Amended Patent Infringement Complaint Allowed After Federal Circuit Decision
By Charles Bieneman on June 20, 2012 in Civil Procedure, Litigation, Notice Pleading Patent Infringement
An amended complaint for patent infringement has been allowed under the standard recently set forth by the Federal Circuit in In re Bill of Lading Transmission & Processing Sys. Patent Litig., No. 2010-1493 (Fed. Cir. June 7, 2012). Under the Federal Circuit’s recent holding, the court had a relatively easy decision in Pagemelding, Inc. v. […]
Patent Infringement Pleadings Standards Defined by Federal Circuit
By Charles Bieneman on June 10, 2012 in Civil Procedure, Litigation, Notice Pleading Patent Infringement, Software Patents
A claim for direct patent infringement is adequately stated by following Form 18 attached to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. However, Form 18 does not set the standard for claims of indirect infringement (i.e., contributory infringement and inducing infringement); these claims must be evaluated against the standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the […]
Patent Infringement Pleading Standards: Recent Cases Yield More Confusion (and Perhaps a Little Clarity)
By Charles Bieneman on May 20, 2012 in Civil Procedure, Litigation, Notice Pleading Patent Infringement
Three recent cases from various U.S. district courts illustrate the need for a higher court to clarify the pleading standard governing claims of patent infringement. As previous posts to this blog have noted, trial courts have suffered from some confusion concerning the level of detail concerning alleged infringement that must be provided in a complaint. […]
Patent Infringement Notice Pleading Standard Not Met
By Charles Bieneman on May 9, 2012 in Civil Procedure, Litigation, Notice Pleading Patent Infringement, Software Patents
If every court adopted a bar for bringing a software or Internet patent infringement action that was as high as the standard followed by the court in Pagemelding, Inc. v. ESPN, Inc., No. C-11-06263 (N.D. Cal. April 30, 2012), patent plaintiffs’ lives would certainly be more difficult. There, the court denied the plaintiff’s motion to […]
Patent Infringement Notice Pleading: A Lesson from Contrasting Cases?
Two recent cases provide a contrast that may illustrate minimum notice pleading requirements for patent infringement plaintiffs. In j2 Global Communications, Inc. v. Vitelity Communications, LLC, No. CV 11-07904 (C.D. Cal. April 12, 2012), the court held that the plaintiff had adequately described the accused products, and denied a motion to dismiss. In contrast, the […]
Notice Pleading Patent Infringement Requires Some Specificity
By Charles Bieneman on March 28, 2012 in Civil Procedure, Litigation, Notice Pleading Patent Infringement
Even after bringing suit against 33 parties just before the America Invents Act’s prohibition on joining unrelated defendants took effect, the notice pleading requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure still required that a plaintiff identify specific ways in which infringement was alleged to take place. Select Retrieval, LLC v. American Apparel, LLC, No. 11cv2158 […]
Meeting the Notice Pleading Standard for Patent Infringement
By Charles Bieneman on March 15, 2012 in Civil Procedure, Litigation, Notice Pleading Patent Infringement, Software Patents
The court in Gradient Enterprises, Inc. v. Skype Technologies S.A, No. 10-CV-6712L (W.D.N.Y. March 13, 2012), addressed the confusion concerning pleading standards in patent infringement actions following the Supreme Court’s decisions in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, as well as the Federal Circuit’s McZeal v. Sprint Nextel Corp. decision. In dismissing […]