Fujitsu Ltd. v. Tellabs Ops., Inc., No. 12 C 3229, Slip Op. (N.D. Ills. Apr. 18, 2014) (Holderman, Sen. J.).

Judge Holderman denied defendants’ (collectively “Tellabs”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c) motion to dismiss two Fujitsu entities’ trade secret and other tort counterclaims based upon the relevant statute of limitations in this patent case.  The Court held that while the claims were otherwise time-barred, they were preserved by the Illinois Savings Clause which waives the statute of limitation for counterclaims where plaintiff’s original claim arose before the counterclaim was time-barred.  Here the Fujitsu defendants presented evidence that Tellabs’ patent claims arose before Fujitsu’s counterclaims were time-barred.  And although at least one Fujitsu defendant was technically a third party, the cases were sufficiently related to warrant application of the Savings Clause.