FERRARA CANDY COMPANY v. 3615 MARKET LLC (2025)

United States District Court, N.D. California.

FERRARA CANDY COMPANY, Plaintiff, v. 3615 MARKET LLC, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 24-cv-07486-RFL

Decided: January 30, 2025

Ashleigh B. Harris, Pro Hac Vice, Jason Demian Rosenberg, Pro Hac Vice, Alston & Bird LLP, Atlanta, GA, Fatmeh Saffari, Theresa Conduah, Alston & Bird LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Richard A. Ergo, Bowles & Verna LLP, Walnut Creek, CA, William T. Nagle, Bowles & Verna, Walnut Creek, CA, Stuart Christopher Plunkett, DOJ-United States Attorney's Office, San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiff Ferrara Candy Company. Morgan Elizabeth Smith, Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, LLP, Palo Alto, CA, Naresh Kilaru, Finnegan, Washington, DC, for Defendants 3615 Market LLC, Three Steps Ahead, Inc., Nicholas Corwin, Ramin Sarup. Steven Wayne Burt, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendant Jokes Up Ice Kream, LLC. Fetaiaki Pulu Teaupa, New Orleans, CA, Pro Se.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO STRIKE

On December 16, 2024, Plaintiff Ferrara Candy Company (“Ferrara Candy”) filed a motion to strike Defendant Jokes Up Ice Kream, LLC's (“Jokes Up”) affirmative defenses and portions of its answer. Jokes Up did not timely file an opposition and failed to respond to the Court's subsequent Order to Show Cause, which is hereby discharged. (Dkt. No. 29.) The Court finds the motion suitable for determination without oral argument under Local Rule 7-1(b).

Ferrara Candy's motion to strike is DENIED as to Jokes Up's affirmative defenses. Courts in this circuit are split on whether the pleading standard applied to complaints in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), apply to affirmative defenses. For the reasons stated in Jensen v. Thomas, No. 23-CV-01628-RFL, 2024 WL 5295012, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 15, 2024), the Court takes the view that Iqbal and Twombly do not apply to affirmative defenses. Pleadings of affirmative defenses only need to meet the Rule 8 standard, and Jokes Up's defenses pass muster under that standard.

The remainder of Ferrara Candy's motion to strike is GRANTED. The allegations at issue appear to relate to an entirely different lawsuit and do not pertain to this case.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

RITA F. LIN United States District Judge

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