Bungie Inc v. Fisher

Opinion

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5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 9 Plaintiff, Case No. C23-1143-MLP 10 v. ORDER 11 JOSHUA FISHER, et al., 12 Defendants. 13

14 This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Bungie Inc.’s (“Bungie”) Ex Parte Motion for 15 Leave to File Amended Complaint. (Mot. (dkt. # 52).) Bungie requests leave to file an amended 16 complaint to name Defendants who were previously unknown to Bungie, but were identified 17 recently after conducting expedited, third-party discovery. (Id. at 1.) Bungie also requests leave 18 to amend so that it can assert additional causes of action against said Defendants. (Id.) 19 Defendants have not yet appeared in this matter, and accordingly, there was no response to 20 Bungie’s Motion. (Id. at 4.) 21 Having considered Bungie’s submissions, the balance of the record, and the governing 22 law, Plaintiff’s Ex Parte Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint (dkt. # 52) is 23 GRANTED, as further explained below. 1 After passage of the initial period to amend as a matter of course, Federal Rule of Civil 2 Procedure 15 requires leave of Court to file an amended complaint. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a). “The 3 court should freely give leave when justice so requires.” Id.; see Eminence Cap., LLC v. Aspeon, 4 Inc., 316 F.3d 1048, 1051 (9th Cir. 2003) (Leave to amend under Rule 15 “is to be applied with

5 extreme liberality.”) (quotation omitted). Factors weighing against leave to amend include undue 6 delay, bad faith, failure to cure deficiencies in previous amendments, undue prejudice to 7 opposing parties, and futility of amendment. Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962). 8 Here, none of these factors weigh against granting leave for Bungie to file an amended 9 complaint. Bungie has expediently conducted third-party discovery to identify unknown 10 Defendants since Bungie filed its initial complaint. There have been no prior amendments, and 11 no parties would be prejudiced by new pleadings since Defendants have yet to answer the initial 12 complaint, or even appear in this matter. In accordance with the “extreme liberality” in which 13 courts should consider Rule 15 motions, the Court finds good reason to grant Bungie’s Motion. 14 For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Ex Parte Motion for Leave to File Amended

15 Complaint (dkt. # 52) is GRANTED. Pursuant to LCR 15, Plaintiff shall file its amended 16 complaint in the form submitted (dkt. # 52-1) and serve it on all parties within fourteen (14) 17 days of this Order. 18 Dated this 12th day of June, 2024. 19 20 A United States Magistrate Judge 22 23