Federal Circuit Deems “Bare Bones” Complaint Sufficient Under Iqbal and Twombly

Ever since Twombly, Iqbal, and the abrogation of Form 18, patent-infringement plaintiffs have generally been filing detailed complaints showing how the defendant purportedly infringes the plaintiff’s patents. Not the plaintiff in Disc Disease Solutions v. VGH Solutions. In that case (decision available here), the Federal Circuit held that the plaintiff’s complaint satisfied Iqbal/Twombly:

This case involves a simple technology. The asserted patents, which were attached to the complaint, consist of only four independent claims. The complaint specifically identified the three accused products—by name and by attaching photos of the product packaging as exhibits—and alleged that the accused products meet “each and every element of at least one claim of the ’113 [or ’509] Patent, either literally or equivalently.” These disclosures and allegations are enough to provide VGH Solutions fair notice of infringement of the asserted patents. The district court, therefore, erred in dismissing Disc Disease’s complaint for failure to state a claim.

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