Bell Northern Research, LLC v. LG Electronics, Inc.

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA BELL NORTHERN RESEARCH, LLC, Case No.: 18-CV-2864-CAB-BLM 11 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO v. AMEND ANSWER TO COMPLAINT LG ELECTRONICS, INC. et al., 14 Defendants. [Doc. No. 43] AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIMS 19 Defendants have filed a motion for leave to amend their answer to add allegations to their third affirmative defense of license and exhaustion, and to add a thirteenth affirmative defense of lack of standing. Plaintiff does not oppose the amendment to the third affirmative defense, but it opposes the addition of the lack of standing defense solely on the grounds of futility. Plaintiff’s argument in support of its opposition focuses primarily on whether Defendants can prove facts sufficient to succeed on the lack of standing defense and not on whether the defense is adequately pled. Based on the evidence in the record and taking into consideration the possibility of additional evidence unearthed in discovery, the Court is not persuaded that Defendants’ lack of standing defense faces inevitable defeat on summary judgment. Cf. California v. Neville Chem. Co., 358 F.3d 661, 673-74 (9th || Cir. 2004) (“Futility includes the inevitability of a claim’s defeat on summary judgment.”’)

2 || (quoting Johnson v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 834 F.2d 721, 724 (9th Cir. 1987)). Accordingly, || Defendants’ motion is GRANTED. Defendants shall file their First Amended Answer and ||Counterclaims on or before September 5, 2019.

5 It is SO ORDERED.

6 || Dated: September 3, 2019 € Z Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo 8 United States District Judge