Motivo Engineering, LLC v. Black Gold Farms

I. INTRODUCTION

Presently before the Court is plaintiff's motion for leave to file a first amended complaint to add claims based on new facts it claimed it learned during discovery. On February 14, 2022, plaintiff Motivo Engineering, LLC filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against defendant Black Gold Farms (“BFG’) and Does 1—25 for (1) breach of contract: and (2) restitution/unjust enrichment. Dkt. 1-1 (“Compl.”). Plaintiff is an end-to-end product design and engineering firm that builds robotic automation equipment in the agricultural industry. Id. 1, 2. Defendant is a North Dakota cooperative association whose farming operations date back to 1928. Dkt. 12 4 6. The dispute in this case arises from the joint development of an automated sweet potato transplanter (the “Project”) by plaintiff and defendant. Compl. § 2. The transplanter is a smart robotic implement that can transplant potatoes when pulled behind machinery. Id. Plaintiff alleges that during the phase of the Project that called for production of a prototype, costs climbed beyond the original scope of the contract due to design decisions that were approved by defendant. Id. …