Plaintiff jumps the gun in filing declaratory action against patent troll
Hewlett-Packard Company v. Acceleron, LLC, Civ. No. 07-650-SLR, March 10, 2009.
Robinson, J. Defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is granted.
Plaintiff markets and sells blade servers under its trademark portfolio. Defendant does not market or sell any products but rather is a “patent troll” whose company is “dedicated to accelerating the value of intellectual property worldwide.” Plaintiff filed this action seeking a declaration of non-infringement and invalidity after receiving certain letters from defendant which are the heart of this dispute. Defendant moved to dismiss alleging that there is no case or controversy. The letters do not contain mention of infringement, identification of specific claims, claims chart, prior pleadings or litigation history, or the identification of other licensees. Although defendant’s status as a “patent troll” and its failure to request a confidentiality agreement or to accept plaintiff’s 120-day standstill proposal weighs in favor of jurisdiction, the Court finds that, under the particular circumstances of this case, the plaintiff “jumped the gun” in filing this action.
