District of Delaware Judge Stark Issues New Procedures for Managing Patent Cases | Practical Law

District of Delaware Judge Stark Issues New Procedures for Managing Patent Cases | Practical Law

Judge Leonard P. Stark of the US District Court for the District of Delaware has issued revised procedures for managing patent cases with new procedures affecting initial motion practice, discovery disputes, motions to strike and amend, and default deadlines for the exchange of contention interrogatories.

District of Delaware Judge Stark Issues New Procedures for Managing Patent Cases

Practical Law Legal Update 0-571-6785 (Approx. 3 pages)

District of Delaware Judge Stark Issues New Procedures for Managing Patent Cases

by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
Published on 19 Jun 2014 • USA (National/Federal)
Judge Leonard P. Stark of the US District Court for the District of Delaware has issued revised procedures for managing patent cases with new procedures affecting initial motion practice, discovery disputes, motions to strike and amend, and default deadlines for the exchange of contention interrogatories.
On June 18, 2014, Judge Leonard P. Stark of the US District Court for the District of Delaware adopted new procedures and form pretrial and scheduling orders governing all patent cases filed on or after July 1, 2014, except cases under the Hatch-Waxman Act involving Abbreviated New Drug Applications. The orders are available on Judge Stark's page on the district court's website.
The court's Revised Procedures for Managing Patent Cases contains several noteworthy provisions:
  • Referral Order. Within seven days of a patent case being assigned, the court will docket a Referral Order requiring that all scheduling matters, as well as motions to dismiss, stay or transfer, be referred to Magistrate Judge Burke.
  • Procedures Order. Within seven days after the court has docketed the Referral Order, the plaintiff(s) must file a proposed Procedures Order that requires letter briefing concerning any:
    • discovery disputes; and
    • motions to amend or strike.
  • Scheduling and Case Management Procedures. Within 10 days after a defendant appears in the case, the court will docket a Case Management Order, which requires the parties to discuss and file a Case Management Checklist and a proposed scheduling order based on the court's Revised Patent Form Scheduling Order. The court will then schedule a Case Management Conference under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.
Judge Stark's Patent Case Order for Scheduling, which is modeled on Judge Sue L. Robinson's recently revised patent scheduling orders, includes the following default procedures for the exchange of information and contentions concerning infringement and invalidity:
  • The plaintiff must:
    • identify the accused products and its damages model; and
    • produce each asserted patent's file history.
  • The defendant then must produce:
    • the core technical documents sufficient to show the operation of each accused product, including confidential manuals, product literature, schematics and specifications; and
    • each accused product's sales figures.
  • Next, the plaintiff must produce an initial infringement claim chart for each accused product.
  • The defendant then must produce:
    • its initial invalidity contentions for each asserted claim; and
    • each invalidating reference.
  • The schedule also includes deadlines for:
    • The exchange of final infringement and invalidity contentions.
    • The supplementation of the plaintiff's identification of accused products and the defendant's identification of invalidity references.
Judge Stark also issued a new form Pretrial Order concerning trial practice and post-trial briefing.