Judge Robinson Allows Plaintiffs to Add Inducement Claim
February 3, 2016
Publication| Intellectual Property
In Teijin Limited v. Roxane Labs, Inc., C.A. No. 14-189-SLR (D. Del. Jan. 14, 2016), Judge Robinson granted the plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file a first amended complaint to add allegations of induced infringement. The defendants opposed any amendment, arguing that the amendment would be futile since, contrary to the new claims, the defendants did not infringe the patent, they could not induce infringement under “settled Federal Circuit precedent,” and the patent claimed unpatentable subject matter. Further, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs unduly delayed (for 20 months) in seeking to amend.
Despite the defendants’ objections, Judge Robinson found that the motion was timely filed under the scheduling order, and allowing the amendment was consistent with the liberal standard for motions to amend and the Court’s rulings in similar cases. Further, Judge Robinson found that the amendment would not be futile since “the court is not prepared to find, based on the instant record, that the newly added claim of inducement is not plausible on its face.”
Analysis: This continues a trend of judges allowing parties to plead inducement claims provided the pleading standards are met.