Magistrate Judge Sherry R. Fallon recently issued a Report and Recommendation, recommending that the Court deny plaintiff’s motion to dismiss defendant’s state law counterclaims. GPNE Corp v. Fleetmatics USA, LLC, C.A. No. 13-2049-SLR-SRF (D. Del. Feb. 20, 2015). Plaintiff argued first that defendant’s state law tort claims are preempted by federal law because defendant could not show that plaintiff’s claims of infringement were “objectively baseless.” Id. at 5. Defendant responded that “federal law does not preempt its state law tort claims because it has alleged sufficient facts to show that GPNE sent . . . infringement letters in bad faith.” Id. Judge Fallon agreed with defendant, noting that at the pleadings stage it does not need to prove its allegations of bad faith are true, only that they are adequately pled. Id. at 8-12. Judge Fallon also found that defendant adequately pled its counterclaims of tortious interference, violation of the Delaware Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and common law unfair competition. Id. at 12-17.
Delaware IP Law Blog 