United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

HEALTHIER CHOICES MANAGEMENT CORP., Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC., PHILIP MORRIS PRODUCTS S.A., Defendants-Appellees ______________________

2022-1268 ______________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in No. 1:20-cv-04816-TCB, Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr.

-------------------------------------------------

HEALTHIER CHOICES MANAGEMENT CORP., Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC., PHILIP MORRIS PRODUCTS S.A., Defendants-Appellees ______________________

2022-1563 ______________________ Case: 22-1268 Document: 47 Page: 2 Filed: 04/12/2023

2 HEALTHIER CHOICES MANAGEMENT CORP. v. PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in No. 1:20-cv-04816-TCB, Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. ______________________

Decided: April 12, 2023 ______________________

BARRY P. GOLOB, Cozen O'Connor P.C., Washington, DC, argued for plaintiff-appellant. Also represented by THOMAS FISHER.

MAXIMILIAN A. GRANT, Latham & Watkins LLP, Wash- ington, DC, argued for all defendants-appellees. Defend- ant-appellee Philip Morris Products S.A. also represented by GABRIEL K. BELL, DAVID ZUCKER; RICHARD GREGORY FRENKEL, Menlo Park, CA.

ADAM BANKS, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, NY, for defendant-appellee Philip Morris USA, Inc. Also represented by ELIZABETH WEISWASSER; WILLIAM SUTTON ANSLEY, Washington, DC; MARK PINKERT, Miami, FL. ______________________

Before TARANTO, STOLL, and CUNNINGHAM, Circuit Judges. STOLL, Circuit Judge. In these combined appeals, Healthier Choices Manage- ment Corp. challenges the district court’s (1) dismissal of its original complaint, (2) denial of its motion for leave to amend its complaint, and (3) grant of attorneys’ fees. For the reasons below, we reverse the district court’s dismissal of the original complaint and denial of leave to amend. Ac- cordingly, we vacate the award of attorneys’ fees. We re- mand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Case: 22-1268 Document: 47 Page: 3 Filed: 04/12/2023

HEALTHIER CHOICES MANAGEMENT CORP. v. 3 PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC.

BACKGROUND Healthier Choices Management Corp. (HCM) sued Philip Morris USA, Inc. and Philip Morris Products S.A. (collectively, “Philip Morris”) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for allegedly in- fringing at least one claim of U.S. Patent No. 10,561,170. The ’170 patent is directed to an electronic nicotine-deliv- ery device. Two independent claims of the ’170 patent are relevant to this appeal: claim 1 and claim 5. Claim 1 provides: 1. An electronic pipe, comprising: a battery, an electronic module, a combus- tible material reservoir, and a heating ele- ment fixed in the combustible material reservoir; combustible material loaded into the com- bustible material reservoir; wherein the pipe is structured to transmit an electric current from the battery to the heating element, the heating element initi- ating a combustion reaction in the combus- tible material reservoir. ’170 patent col. 9 l. 36–col. 10 l. 4 (emphasis added to dis- puted portion). Claim 5 provides: 5. A method of at least p