Cease and Desist Letter May Create Substantial Controversy Without Identifying Specific Accused Products or Services

The court denied in part defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's declaratory relief action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. "[Defendant] contends that this Court lacks jurisdiction because, in its pre-suit communications, it did not name any specific [plaintiff] products or services. . . . [Defendant] repeatedly asserted that features of [plaintiff's] products infringe specific [defendant's] patents, provided a detailed chart comparing these patents with [plaintiff's] features, and implicitly — but clearly — threatened to sue [plaintiff] based on these features. This is sufficient to establish an actual controversy over which there is federal jurisdiction."

MIS Sciences Corporation v. RPost Communications Limited et al, 3-14-cv-00376 (CAND July 22, 2014, Order) (Chhabria, J.)