Cradle IP LLC v. Texas Instruments, Inc.

Filing 195

MEMORANDUM ORDER denying 128 MOTION for Leave to File an Amended Answer. Signed by Judge Sue L. Robinson on 5/23/2013. (nmfn)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE

CRADLE IP, LLC,
Plaintiff,

v.
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, INC.,
Defendant.

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) Civ. No. 11-1254-SLR
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MEMORANDUM ORDER
At Wilmington

thisJ2>~day of May, 2013, having considered defendant Texas

Instruments, Inc.'s ("TI's") motion for leave to file an amended answer and the papers
submitted therewith;
IT IS ORDERED that said motion (D. I. 128) is denied, as follows:
1. Background. Plaintiff Cradle IP, LLC ("Cradle") filed this action against Tl on
December 16, 2011, accusing a number of Tl's microprocessor chips and devices (the
"accused devices") of infringing three patents, including United States Patent No.
6,647,450 ("the '450 patent"). 1 (D.I. 1) Tl filed its answer on February 6, 2012. (D.I.
12) In response to allegations related to the '450 patent, paragraph 19 of the answer
states:
19. Tl admits that it does or has made, manufactured, used, sold, or
offered to sell microprocessor and OMAP devices utilizing split

transaction buses with target device command buffers (insofar as
that phrase is given its common meaning and not necessarily the
meaning that may be ascribed to it as a result of any claim
1

The other two patents-in-suit are United States Patent Nos. 6,874,049 and
6,708,259. (D. I. 1)

construction), including devices AM389xSitara ARM Microprocessors,
OMPA34xx devices, OMPA35xx devices, OMAP36xx devices, and
OMAP4xxx devices if "xx" or "xxx" means a combination of numbers and
letters unspecified. Tl denies the remainder of the allegations contained
in Paragraph 19 of the Complaint.

(0.1. 10

at~

19) (emphasis added) The phrases "split transaction buses" and "target

device command buffers" do not appear in any claim of the '450 patent, although the
terms "split transaction global bus" and "command FIFO" do. 2
2. On August 16, 2012, Tl responded to Cradle's second set of interrogatories
with a non-infringement contention that the accused OMAP devices do not perform the
limitations recited in claim 22 of the '450 patent, including "a) sending a command from
a master device to a split transaction global bus" or "b) placing the command in a
command FIFO of a target device." (0.1. 130, ex. Cat 9, 11, 13, 14, 16) On September
13, 2012, Tl responded to Cradle's amended first set of interrogatories by stating, in

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1ndependent claim 22 of the '450 patent provides:

A method of preventing a bus in a multiprocessor computer system from being
blocked comprising:
a) sending a command from a master device to a split transaction global
bus;
b) placing the command in a command FIFO of a target device;
c) sending the master device an acknowledgement of command receipt;
d) releasing the split transaction global bus for use by other bus devices,
where such use includes another master device issuing a command
accepted by the target device while the target device is executing a
previously-issued transaction; and
e) repeating steps a)- d) as necessary.

2

part, that "there are no Tl products that are multi-processor systems with splittransaction bus systems where such systems have command buffers in target devices,
including but not limited to split-transaction bus systems that utilize Open-Core Protocol
or any protocol that requires generating an acknowledgement that commands are
received." (/d., ex. D at 8)
3. Tl now proposes to amend paragraph 19 of its answer to read:
19. Tl admits that it does or has made, manufactured, used, sold, or
offered to sell microprocessor and OMAP devices, including devices
AM389xSitara ARM Microprocessors, OMPA34xx devices, OMPA35xx
devices, OMAP36xx devices, and OMAP4xxx devices if "xx" or "xxx"
means a combination of numbers and letters unspecified, but denies that
its OMAP devices utilize split transaction buses with target device
command buffers. Tl denies the remainder of the allegations contained
in Paragraph 19 of the Complaint.
(D.I. 128, ex. A

at~

19) (emphasis added) Tl first contacted Cradle on December 4,

2012 with its request to amend the answer. (D. I. 130, ex. E) The parties then
conferred but could not reach an agreement on Tl's proposed amendment. (See id.,
exs. F, G, H, I, J, K) Tl filed the motion for leave to amend its answer on January 23,
2013. (0.1. 128)
4. Standard. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require courts to freely give
leave to amend "when justice so requires." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). The court may
exercise its discretion to deny leave to amend in situations in which the moving party
has delayed seeking leave and the delay "is undue, motivated by bad faith, or
prejudicial to the opposing party." Bjorgung v. Whitetail Resort, LP, 550 F.3d 263, 266
(3d Cir. 2008) (citation omitted). After a pleading deadline has passed, courts have
required the movant to also satisfy the more rigorous "good cause" standard of Federal

3

Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4). 3 See, e.g., JCU Med. Inc. v. RyMed Techs., Inc., 674
F. Supp. 2d 574, 577-78 (D. Del. 2009); Cordance Corp. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 255
F.R.D. 366, 371 (D. Del. 2009).
5. Discussion. Tl contends that the proposed amendment will conform its
answer to its interrogatory responses and ensure that Cradle cannot characterize
paragraph 19 to the jury as an admission of infringement. 4 (D. I. 129 at 1-2) Cradle
opposes the motion on grounds of undue delay and prejudice. 5 Specifically, it asserts
that Tl's delay in seeking amendment is undue because the proposed amendment
contravenes the scheduling order without explanation. (D.I. 150 at 6-7) With respect to
prejudice, Cradle argues that permitting the amendment would amount to allowing Tl to
retract an admission and would require the reopening of fact discovery. (/d. at 7-9)
6. Undue delay. Tl posits that its delay would not place an unwarranted burden
on the court or Cradle because it put Cradle on notice of its proposed amendment
before any depositions occurred and before the close of fact discovery. (See D.l. 170
at 3-4) However, the consideration of undue delay "requires that [the court] focus on
the movant's reasons for not amending sooner." Cureton v. Nat'/ Collegiate Athletic
Ass'n, 252 F.3d 267, 273 (3d Cir. 2001 ); see also Bjorgung, 550 F.3d at 266. Tl's

3

Rule 16(b )( 4) provides that a scheduling order "may be modified only for good
cause and with the judge's consent."
4

The parties dispute whether Cradle would be able to use paragraph 19 of the
original answer at trial as an admission of infringement. (See D.l. 129 at 10-11; D.l.
150 at 9-11; D.l. 170 at 9-1 0) As the parties recognize, however, the admissibility of a
pleading has no bearing on the propriety of an amendment. (See D.l. 150 at 9; D.l. 170
at 10)
5

Cradle does not assert bad faith, dilatory motive, or futility.

4

motion was filed on January 23, 2013, more than two months after the November 1,
2012 deadline for the amendment of pleadings as set by the scheduling order. (D.I. 16)
Tl asserts that it contacted Cradle on December 4, 2012 with a draft of its proposed
amended answer after discovering that paragraph 19 of its original answer might be
interpreted inconsistently with its discovery responses and non-infringement
contentions. (D.I. 129 at 5; D. I. 130, ex. E) Although this assertion explains why Tl
now seeks to amend, it does not explain why Tl did not seek to amend before the
expiration of the deadline to amend pleadings. The proposed amendment is not based
on any new evidence that has emerged during discovery. Rather, paragraph 19 relates
to information that has been in Tl's possession all along, and Tl does not contend that
the structure of the accused devices has changed since it filed the answer. (See D .I.
130, ex. G) Given the lack of proper justification, Tl's delay is undue.
7. A finding of undue delay, without a finding of prejudice, may justify denial of a
motion to amend "when the amendment is grounded on 'bad faith or dilatory motive,
truly undue or unexplained delay .... "' lnline Connection Corp. v. AOL Time Warner

Inc., 237 F.R.D. 361, 369 (D. Del. 2006) (quoting Hey/ & Patterson lnt'l, Inc. v. F.D. Rich
Housing of the Virgin Islands, Inc., 663 F .2d 419, 425 (3d Cir. 1981) ). Courts in this
circuit have denied motions to amend based solely on undue delay when a long delay
was unexplained. See Lorenz v. CSX Corp., 1 F.3d 1406 (3d Cir. 1993) (affirming
denial to amend where the district court made no finding of prejudice but leave to
amend was filed nearly two years after the prior amendment); USX Corp. v. Barnhart,
395 F.3d 161 (3d Cir. 2004) (affirming denial of leave to amend on the ground of

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unreasonable delay where the movant waited more than three years to amend). Here,
Tl notified Cradle of its desire to amend approximately one month after the deadline
and then filed its motion to amend approximately one and a half months later. Although
the court finds that there is undue delay, the delay in this case does not rise to the type
of unexplained "long delay" that is equivalent to bad faith. See Rose Hall, Ltd. v. Chase

Manhattan Overseas Banking Corp., 93 F.R.D. 858, 865 (D. Del. 1982). Therefore, the
court will also determine the prejudice to Cradle if the amendment were allowed.
8. Prejudice. The determination of prejudice "requires that [the court] focus on
the hardship to the [non-movant] if the amendment were permitted" and may include
"additional discovery, cost, and preparation .... " Cureton, 252 F.3d at 273. Cradle
avers that it relied on paragraph 19 of the original answer during discovery and that Tl
waited until the end of discovery to bring the motion. (D.I. 150 at 7-9) As a result,
Cradle asserts, allowing the amendment would require it to engage in additional
discovery. (/d.) Tl counters that its proposed amendment would not be prejudicial to
Cradle because its proposed amendment is consistent with its responses to Cradle's
interrogatories, such that Cradle "has been on notice since at least August or
September 2012 that Tl's Answer is potentially inconsistent with its discovery
responses." (!d. at 5)
9. Tl relies on Lev. City of Wilmington, Civ. No. 08-615, 2010 WL 2754253, at
*3-4 (D. Del. July 12, 201 0), in which the court found no prejudice to the non-movant
and granted leave to amend where the amendment "only add[ed] particularity to [an]
affirmative defense." The instant case, however, is distinguishable because Tl's

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amendment does not merely add particularity to its pleadings; it seeks to remove a
qualification in its answer such that the response becomes an outright denial. Certain
prejudice to the non-moving party is inherent when a motion to amend is submitted
after the deadline set forth in the scheduling order. See Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. v.
Guardian Indus. Corp., 276 F.R.D. 417, 420 (D. Del. 2011 ). Despite being notified in

December 2012 of Tl's desire to amend, Cradle has relied upon Tl's answer and
prepared its case in accordance with those pleadings. Furthermore, Cradle contends
that if the amendment is allowed, "[it] would have to seek discovery of Tl regarding its
position, i.e., why the accused L3 interconnect found in the accused OMAP devices is
not a split transaction bus .... " (D.I. 130, ex. H) To allow Tl to change the landscape
of the litigation at this late date would be prejudicial to Cradle. 6 The court recognizes
Tl's concerns about the conformity of its interrogatory responses with its answer but, at
this juncture, the concerns would be more appropriately raised as an evidentiary issue.
The court will address such issues during the course of litigation if the need arises.
10. Rule 16(b)(4). In addition, the court finds that Tl fails to meet the good
cause requirement for amendment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b)(4). "In
contrast to Rule 15(a), the good cause standard under Rule 16(b) hinges on diligence
of the movant, and not on prejudice to the non-moving party." Raquette Freres v. SPI
Pharma, Inc., Civ. No. 06-540, 2009 WL 1444835, at *4 (D. Del. May 21, 2009). "'Good

cause' exists when the [s]chedule cannot reasonably be met despite the diligence of
the party seeking the extension." ICU Med., 674 F. Supp. 2d at 577. Tl only offers
6

During briefing of this motion, fact discovery was drawing to a close and the
parties were preparing expert reports. (See D.l. 16)

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evidence of diligence after it notified Cradle on December 4, 2012 of its intention to
amend the answer. (See D.l. 170 at 3-4; D.l. 130, exs. E, F, G, H, I, J, K) Assuming,
for the sake of argument, that Tl diligently sought to amend between December 4, 2012
and the filing date of this motion, Tl has not offered any explanation for why it could not
reasonably meet the scheduling order's November 1, 2012 deadline for amending the
pleadings. The court, therefore, finds that Tl has not demonstrated good cause to
modify the schedule in this case.
11. Conclusion. For the aforementioned reasons, the court denies Tl's motion
for leave to file an amended answer.

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