No Need to Strike “Patent Troll” From Declaratory Judgment Complaint

The court denied defendant's motion to strike the term "patent troll" in plaintiff's declaratory relief complaint. "[W]hile the term 'patent troll' describes entities that engage in negative, even aggressive, behavior, it is not so extreme or salacious that it warrants an exercise of the Court's discretion under [Rule 12(f)]. In fact . . . the term is readily applied in the public sphere. Moreover, the term, and the conduct to which it refers, describes behavior at the heart of plaintiff's claim that [defendant] is unlawfully attempting to interfere with its business. . . . While plaintiff's use of the term in the amended complaint plainly seeks to cast [defendant] in a negative light, [defendant] has not presented a sufficiently 'strong reason' to support granting a motion to strike."

Viber Media, Inc. v. Rates Technology Inc., 1-13-cv-00953 (NYSD April 23, 2013, Order) (Cote, J.).