New Lanham Act claims added on eve of expert discovery claims permitted
Affinion Net Patents, Inc. v. Maritz, Inc., No. 04-360-JJF, June 8, 2006.
Farnan, J. Plaintiff’s motion to amend complaint to assert Lanham claims and to dismiss counterclaims based on testimony that accused product was never implemented was granted.
The plaintiff filed its complaint on June 8, 2004. On March 8, 2006, the deadline for filing expert reports, plaintiff moved to add Lanham Act claims for falsely advertising and marketing that a patent was pending on the accused product. It moved to dismiss infringement claims because of evidence that the accused product was never marketed. Defendant opposed the amendments because of the undue delay and prejudice. The court found that recently developed evidence justified the amendment and noted that no additional discovery would be needed.
