Plaintiff's motion for leave to amend its complaint to include a claim for inequitable conduct was denied even though the request was made shortly after plaintiff learned that one inventor submitted a false affidavit to the PTO. "[T]here is no allegation that the affiant at bar did not contribute to the invention, or that the application that matured into the [patent-in-suit] contains otherwise false representations. I certainly recognize that candor is the hallmark of the patent system and that false statements, about even ministerial acts, can have significance as to the survival of a patent in the review process. Nevertheless, I decline to allow an inequitable conduct claim to be pursued after the close of discovery when there are insufficient allegations of underlying facts from which I may reasonably infer that the material misrepresentation was made with a specific intent to deceive the PTO."
Robert Bosch LLC v. Pylon Manufacturing Corp., 1-08-cv-00542
(DED October 19, 2009, Memorandum Order) (Robinson, J.)
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