Hilgraeve Corp. v. Symantec Corp.

212 F.R.D. 345, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 677, 2003 WL 142417
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJanuary 15, 2003
DocketNo. CIV. 97-40370
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 212 F.R.D. 345 (Hilgraeve Corp. v. Symantec Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hilgraeve Corp. v. Symantec Corp., 212 F.R.D. 345, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 677, 2003 WL 142417 (E.D. Mich. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GADOLA, District Judge.

Before the Court are the following motions: Plaintiffs motion to file an amended complaint [docket entry 304]; Defendant’s motion to modify the cut-off date for filing dispositive motions [docket entry 311]; Defendant’s motion to strike Plaintiffs reply brief [docket entry 324]; and Defendant’s motion for leave to brief the issue of attorney’s fees and costs [docket entry 325]. The Court elects to resolve these motions without a hearing. See LR 7.1(e)(3). For reasons set forth below, the Court shall grant Plaintiffs motion to amend the complaint and shall deny Defendant’s motions.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Hilgraeve Corporation, as the named assignee of U.S. Patent No. 5,319,776 (the “ ’776 patent”), filed the complaint in this patent infringement action on September 15, 1997. The Court has recently learned, however, that Plaintiffs correct legal name is actually “Hilgraeve, Inc.” and not “Hilgraeve Corporation.” Apparently, Hilgraeve, Inc. has never existed as Hilgraeve Corporation. According to Plaintiffs counsel, this error arose when the law firm that drafted the document assigning the ’776 patent erroneously named “Hilgraeve Corporation” and not “Hilgraeve, Inc.” as the assignee. Counsel further states that this error was compounded when, based upon the assignment document, it named “Hilgraeve Corporation” as the plaintiff in this suit. Plaintiff filed a motion to amend the complaint to correct this error following a May 30, 2002 hearing before the Magistrate Judge at which Defendant apparently raised the discrepancy in Plaintiffs name.

In its motion to amend, Plaintiff sought to add two plaintiffs to this suit, “Hilgraeve, Inc.” and “Hilgraeve Associates LLC.” However, since Plaintiff filed its motion, Plaintiffs counsel has corrected the assignment document concerning the ’776 patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Thus, the named assignee of the ’776 patent is now officially “Hilgraeve, Inc.” Accordingly, Plaintiff has modified its proposed amendment and now seeks only to substitute “Hilgraeve, Inc.” in place of “Hilgraeve Corporation” as plaintiff.

Based upon the discrepancy in Plaintiffs name, Defendant seeks leave to file a motion to dismiss. The basis of Defendant’s motion to dismiss is that, because the named plain[347]*347tiff in this suit, “Hilgraeve Corporation,” does not legally exist, Plaintiff lacks standing under Article III of the Constitution, and this Court is without jurisdiction to hear this lawsuit. The Court begins its discussion with Plaintiffs motion to amend.

II. PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO AMEND

Plaintiff moves to amend the complaint under Rules 15 and 17(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 17(a) provides, in relevant part:

Every action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest____No action shall be dismissed on the ground that it is not prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest until a reasonable time has been allowed after objection for ratification of commencement of the action by, or joinder or substitution of, the real party in interest; and such ratification, joinder, or substitution shall have the same effect as if the action had been commenced in the name of the real party in interest.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 17(a). Rule 17(a) is thus implicated when a movant is attempting to substitute a plaintiff. See Advanced Magnetics, Inc. v. Bayfront Partners, Inc., 106 F.3d 11, 19 (2d Cir.1997).

“Although the district court retains some discretion to dismiss an action where there was no semblance of any reasonable basis for the naming of an incorrect party, there plainly should be no dismissal where ‘substitution of the real party in interest is necessary to avoid injustice.’ ” Id. at 20 (citing and quoting 6A Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1555, at 415 (2d ed.1990)). Moreover, “[a] Rule 17(a) substitution of plaintiffs should be liberally allowed when the change is merely formal and in no way alters the original complaint’s factual allegations as to the events or the participants.” Id.

Defendant’s primary argument in opposition to Plaintiffs motion to amend is that, because the named plaintiff in this case, “Hil-graeve Corporation,” legally does not exist and has never existed, Plaintiff lacks standing under Article III of the Constitution. Therefore, citing Zurich Insurance Co. v. Logitrans, Inc., 297 F.3d 528 (6th Cir.2002), Defendant argues that the Court is without jurisdiction to entertain the present motion and must dismiss this case.

“In order for a federal court to exercise jurisdiction over a matter, the party seeking relief must have standing to sue. Standing has both constitutional and prudential dimensions. The constitutional requirements for standing emanate from Art. Ill, § 2, of the U.S. Constitution, which grants federal courts jurisdiction over cases and controversies.” Id. at 531 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

In Zurich, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of Zurich Insurance Company’s (“Zurich Switzerland”) motion to substitute American Guaranty & Liability Insurance Company (“American Guaranty”) as the real party in interest pursuant to Rule 17(a). See id. The case arose following American Guaranty’s payment of property damage claims under an insurance policy. See id. at 530. Although American Guaranty, as subrogee, was entitled to bring the suit against the allegedly negligent parties, Zurich Switzerland, and not American Guaranty, was named as the plaintiff. See id. The district court denied Zurich Switzerland’s motion to substitute American Guaranty as plaintiff, finding that the failure to name American Guaranty was not an understandable mistake. See id.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision on other grounds, concluding that, insofar as Zurich Switzerland had not suffered an injury in fact, “it had no standing to bring this action and no standing to make a motion to substitute the real party in interest.” Id. at 531. The court further noted:

An attorney made a mistake and filed the action in the name of Zurich Switzerland, when Zurich Switzerland had no claims whatsoever against the defendants, and no Article III standing to sue. American Guarantee, a totally separate entity, which was not vigilant in protecting its claims, cannot now benefit from Zurich Switzerland’s mistake so as to take advantage of the suspension of the limitations period.

Id. at 532.

Thus, Zurich involved a movant’s attempt to substitute a “totally separate entity” and [348]*348is distinguishable from the present situation. Defendant has adduced no evidence that the entity bringing this suit, whether it be named Hilgraeve Inc. or Hilgraeve Corporation, would change following the proposed amendment of the complaint.

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Bluebook (online)
212 F.R.D. 345, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 677, 2003 WL 142417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hilgraeve-corp-v-symantec-corp-mied-2003.