MPC Containment Sys., Ltd. v. Moreland, No. 05 C 6973, 2008 WL 1775501 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 17, 2008) (Aspen, J.).*
Judge Aspen granted in part plaintiff MPC Containment’s ("MPC") Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(f) motion to strike defendants’ (collectively "Moreland") waiver and unclean hands defenses. The Court struck Moreland’s unclean hands defense. Moreland alleged unclean hands based upon MPC’s allegedly fraudulent procurement of a patent related to the flexible tank technology at issue. But the Court held that Moreland failed to show that MPC’s alleged fraud was somehow directed at Moreland. Furthermore, while the patented technology is related to the technology in suit, MPC’s alleged misconduct in obtaining the patent had no connection to this suit.
The Court, however, allowed Moreland’s waiver defense. Moreland did not specifically plead that MPC voluntarily relinquished its rights to the claims in suit. But it was sufficient that voluntary relinquishment could be inferred from the pleadings.
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