Monday, July 30, 2012

Membership in Defensive Patent Aggregator Service Established Knowledge of Patents Sufficient to Support Indirect Infringement and Willfulness Claims

The court denied defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's indirect and willful infringement claims where plaintiff adequately alleged pre-suit knowledge based on the defendants' membership in a defensive patent aggregation service. "[Plaintiff] disclosed its patents and explained how and why they are infringed to [the patent aggregation service] during negotiations [three years ago]. [Plaintiff] further explains that because the 'purpose of [the service] was to obtain patent rights for its members, it is entirely plausible - indeed, likely - that the Company would have identified [plaintiff's] patents to [its member companies], as it did to at least one other [defendant]. . . .' The Court agrees with [plaintiff] that [defendants'] relationship with [the service], in light of [its] business model, provides a plausible basis for reasonably inferring that [defendants] became aware of both patents-in-suit."

SoftView LLC v. Apple Inc., et. al., 1-10-cv-00389 (DED July 26, 2012, Order) (Stark, J.).

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