That is a good question, and it is impossible to know at this point. There may well be merit to a patent infringement claim, but I think the first order of business should be to seek dismissal of the complaint based on the fact that it contains no factual assertions and there is no way for it to be defended. Courts are loathe to dismiss complaints though, and would likely grant leave to amend, which is typically liberally granted at least once. So the defendants will likely have to waste tens of thousands of dollars before they can ever get to the point where they have any hope of determining what the plaintiff’s theory is and whether there is any merit.

Even if this were to resolve once and for all relatively quickly I would anticipate $100K plus being spent by the defendants. But what is quick? Motions to dismiss are rarely granted, leave to amend is typically granted, so that means they would likely need to fight through at least some discovery and into Summary Judgment. If the case has merit and actually proceeds through discovery and to trial, then you are easily talking $1 million or more for attorneys, perhaps much more.

-Gene