Answer Cannot be Amended to Add a Defense Originally Available
Meyer Intellectual Props. Ltd. V. Bodum, Inc., No. 06 C 6329, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jul. 24, 2007) (Shadur, J.).*
Judge Shadur denied defendant’s motion to amend its answer adding an equitable estoppel defense. The Court noted that amendments were usually “generously” allowed, but defendant provided no justification for not including equitable estoppel in its original answer. Defendant argued that it required investigation to discover its equitable estoppel defense, but the Court noted that the information defendant relied upon was in defendant’s possession. So, there was no reason that defendant could not have conducted its investigation before filing its answer.
* A copy of the Opinion is available here.
