SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has issued an order of dismissal in a patent infringement case filed by Uniloc 2017 LLC against Box Inc.
“The court first notes that this case is at an early stage. Plaintiffs filed their motion for voluntary dismissal less than two weeks after Box filed an answer,” Judge Jon Tigar wrote in the court decision dated Dec. 27.
A major issue in the case was which company had the licensing over the patent in question.
“Plaintiffs’ counsel, James J. Foster, states that he was unaware at the time the complaint was filed that Uniloc Luxembourg had, on May 3, 2018, assigned the patent-in-suit to Uniloc 2017 LLC, and that Uniloc Licensing USA LLC, rather than Uniloc USA, became the exclusive licensee on that same date,” Tigar wrote.
“Plaintiffs amended their complaint to add Uniloc 2017 and Uniloc Licensing USA two months after counsel states that he learned of the May 3, 2018 transfer agreement. Plaintiffs filed the new action and sought dismissal of this one within one month of learning that a defendant in a different case challenged plaintiffs’ ability to cure a lack of subject matter jurisdiction by substituting Uniloc 2017 as a party,” Tigar wrote.
The defendant did not raise the question of whether the court lacked jurisdiction over the case, according to the court decision.
“Nor has Box presented any argument as to how it will suffer legal prejudice if this case is dismissed without prejudice and Box is forced to litigate the subsequently filed case. The court will therefore dismiss this case without prejudice,” Tigar wrote in the court decision.
Box Inc. had also requested that the plaintiff pay attorneys’ fees, but the court declined to offer the reward.
“The court notes that Box cites no authority for such an award, nor does it request an award of any specific amount,” Tigar wrote.