Judge Lynn Denies Defendants’ Motion for Leave to Join Acacia To Case As Defendant

On October 10, 2015, Judge Lynn issued an Order (available here) in In re Industrial Print Technologies, LLC Patent Litigation denying defendants’ motion for leave to amend their pleadings to add Acacia Research Group as a counter-defendant. Defendants argued that Acacia should be joined as a party because the plaintiff was Acacia’s “wholly-owned designated affiliate” and the plaintiff is “a grossly-undercapitizlied shell for [Acacia] to enforce patent rights” and simply the “alter ego” of Acacia. Judge Lynn rejected defendants’ arguments, and held that the proposed amendment would be futile as defendants could not assert any claims against Acacia.