Intellectual Ventures I LLC, et al. v. Toshiba Corporation, et al., C.A. No. 13-453-SLR-SRF, August 17, 2015.

Fallon, M. J.  Plaintiffs’ motion to amend the complaint is granted; defendants’ motion to amend their amended answers, defenses or counterclaims is denied as moot.

The court previously dismissed plaintiffs’ willful infringement claims. The motion was filed before the deadline for filing amended pleadings and fact discovery closes in February, 2016.  Although plaintiffs do not explain the 8-month delay in filing the motion to amend, that delay is insufficient to deny the motion.  The case is still in its early stage and defendants are not prejudiced.  Defendants claim the amendment would be futile in that the amended complaint fails to sufficiently plead objective recklessness. The court finds that the allegations that defendants disregarded the risk of infringement by continuing to disseminate the allegedly infringing products after receiving notice of the patents is sufficient to infer that defendants knew or should have known that the conduct would likely infringe a patent. Plaintiffs note that defendants have not provided any bases for their assertions of non-infringement in response to a presentation of one of the patents.