Citations
- 498 F. Supp. 2d 1096
Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
SHADUR, Senior District Judge.
Bodum, Inc. (“Bodum”) has moved for leave to amend its Answer in this patent infringement action brought against it by Meyer Intellectual Properties Limited and Meyer Corporation, U.S. (collectively “Meyer,” treated as a singular noun for convenience) by adding a new affirmative defense (“AD”) of equitable estoppel. Despite the generous approach that generally applies to such motions for pleading amendments under Fed.R.Civ.P. (“Rule”) 15(a) as prescribed in Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962), the scenario presented here clearly calls for denial of Bodum’s motion.
It is not simply that Bodum has proffered no justification for not having included equitable estoppel in its original Answer, a matter as to which the opinion in Castro v. CHA 360 F.3d 721, 735 (7th Cir.2004) spoke in terms equally applicable to this case;
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(c) requires that defendants raise all afSrma-five defenses that will defeat the allegations in the complaint in a responsive pleading. We have stated numerous times that if a defendant does not raise defenses at the time of filing an answer, those defenses are deemed waived. See, e.g., Perry v. Sullivan, 207 F.3d 379, 382 (7th Cir.2000)
To be sure, Castro, id. referred to the defendant there as having given Judge Lefkow “no excuse” for its earlier omission of the AD at issue, while here Bodum asserts (Motion ¶ 5) that it was only “[a]f-ter pursuing further investigation, legal research and reviewing discovery responses from Meyer” that it “determined that it is necessary to plead an additional affirmative defense, namely equitable estoppel.” That assertion is insupportable as an excuse: In fact, (1) the information that, as Bodum would, have it, turned on the light switch of its awareness was documentation in its