Candidates Question the Good Faith Basis for Suit
Back in February, I noted the “interesting” decision of plaintiff EveryMD to file suit against the Republican presidential candidates. The suit, captioned EveryMD v. Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich(C.D.CA) explains that U.S. Patent 7,644,122 is infringed by Facebook, and as business customers of Facebook receiving messages, that there is some type of liability on the part of the candidates. (complaint here).
POLITICO now reports that the candidates have fired back, questioning the legitimacy of the suit. The letter (found here) points out that EveryMD had first sued Facebook only to have the case dismissed (patent now subject to reexamination at the USPTO). The letter reasons that the most recent suit is an attempt to circumvent the previous failure, explaining:
[W]e do not believe there is a good faith basis for the filing of EveryMD’s action at this time. Indeed, it appears that this case seeks to circumvent the intent and effect of the Court’s earlier dismissal of virtually identical claims in a related prior action. Under the circumstances, we request that you immediately dismiss the pending complaint, failing which we expressly reserve any and all of our rights and remedies, including any right to seek recovery of all fees and costs incurred in responding to EveryMD’s complaint.
POLITICO also notes that the Patent Holder has seemingly given President Obama a fully paid up license….just because.