A Blog About Intellectual Property Litigation and the District of Delaware


Entries for search: Stark

Update on Upcoming Jury Trials: First D. Del. Patent Jury Trial to Start?

Andrew E. Russell, May 14, 2021
COVID-19 Trial Calendar

Summer Green Wheat
Artem Kniaz, Unsplash

It's been about two weeks since we last talked about the upcoming trial schedule. In that update, we noted that D. Del. jury trials are truly back, with at least one criminal jury trial having already concluded.

First Post-COVID Patent Jury Trial Next Week?

It looks like In Re Chanbond, LLC Patent Litigation, C.A. 15-842-RGA (D. Del.) is still on track to be the first post-COVID-19 patent jury trial. It is set to start on Thursday 5/20 before Judge Andrews, and from all appearances it will go forward.

To my knowledge, the Court's COVID-19 protocols are still in effect; as such, only one jury trial may proceed at a time …

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Can You Depose Claim Construction Experts in Delaware?

David M. Fry, May 12, 2021
Claim Construction

By and large, the view from the bench is that expert testimony provides little value in the claim construction process. It's litigation-driven extrinsic evidence, and it often plays no role in the court's final analysis. But if you choose to rely on an expert during claim construction, will you have to make them available for deposition?

Judge Stark answered this question on Friday with a resounding yes. After reiterating the general view that "[e]xpert opinions and declarations constitute extrinsic evidence . . . and are at times unhelpful," he confirmed that:

a party asking the Court to rely on such extrinsic evidence should expect to make its expert(s) available for deposition prior to a claim construction hearing, should …
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Where to Find the OTHER District of Delaware Local Rules

Andrew E. Russell, March 20, 2021
CM/ECF KB

Sit back, relax, and enjoy this long post about <a href='#' class='abbreviation' data-bs-toggle='tooltip' data-placement='top' title='United States District Court for the District of Delaware'>D. Del</a>. local rules...
Sit back, relax, and enjoy this long post about D. Del. local rules... XPS, Unsplash

The District of Delaware's local rules are available on the court's website, but they don't tell the whole story—there are a number of critical rules and practices set forth in other documents that are not as obvious on the site.

These can really trip you up if you're not familiar with D. Del. practice.

This post is geared towards mainly towards out-of-town or in-house counsel. It covers the basics and then lays out where to find some of those other important rules if you have a …

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Early Summary Judgment or "Pig in a Poke"?

Jeff Castellano, Feb. 16, 2021
FRCP 56 ANDA

Pigs
Kenneth Schipper Vera, Unsplash

Judge Andrews recently rejected the requests of several defendants in a Hatch-Waxman (or "ANDA") case to file an early motion for summary judgment, calling the request a "pig in a poke."

Judge Andrews, like most judges in this District, does not as a matter of course permit dispositive motions in ANDA cases or early dispositive motions in general. Nonetheless, two defendants in Astrazeneca AB v. Alembic Pharms. Ltd., C.A. No. 20-202-RGA, sought leave to file an early motion for summary judgment of no infringement under the doctrine of equivalents (plaintiff's only infringement theory).

Judge Andrews made short work of the request, first noting that the

defendants do not make a …
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How Long Until the Hearing?

Nathan R. Hoeschen, Feb. 11, 2021
Discovery Dispute Scheduling

Red Classic London Double Decker Bus
Dave Kim, Unsplash

As we discussed in our primer on bringing a discovery dispute in Delaware, each judge has their own procedures for scheduling a hearing on discovery disputes. Perhaps because of these different procedures, the time between request and conference varies quite a bit. Because it's sometimes useful to know how long you might expect to wait before receiving a decision on your dispute, I present you, dear reader, with the average time from request to hearing for each of the Article III Delaware Judges as of today (based on their 5 most recent scheduled conferences):

  • Judge Andrews - 21 Days
  • Judge Connolly - 19 days
  • Judge Noreika - 25 Days
  • Judge Stark - 39 Days

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All January and February Jury Trials in the District of Delaware Have Now Been Canceled

Andrew E. Russell, Jan. 25, 2021
Trial Calendar

Calendar
Adam Tinworth, Unsplash

At this point, every trial listed in our last jury trial update has been continued or delayed, almost all due to coronavirus concerns. Here is the breakdown:

  • January 25, 2021: Novel Drug Solutions, LLC et al v. Harrow Health, Inc., C.A. No. 18-539-MN (D. Del.) (Noreika, J.): After a joint request to delay trial due in part to coronavirus issues, this trial was "continued to dates TBD."
  • February 17, 2021: U.S. v. Joanna L. Crane, C.A. No. 20-51-CFC (D. Del.) (Connolly, J.): This trial was continued for reasons unrelated to COVID-19.
  • February 22, 2021: U.S. v. Davine Boyce, C.A. No. 20-43-CFC (D. Del.) (Connolly, J.): Delayed …
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What Are the "Usual Discovery Dispute Procedures" in the District of Delaware?

Andrew E. Russell, Jan. 25, 2021
KB Discovery Dispute

Le Duel a l'Épée et au Poignard (The Duel with the Sword and Dagger)
Le Duel a l'Épée et au Poignard (The Duel with the Sword and Dagger), Jacques Callot

After we talked last week about an unsuccessful effort to bypass the Court's discovery dispute procedures, I thought it might be interesting to talk about what those procedures are, for people who don't practice here day in and day out.

A discovery dispute is a special procedure that allows the parties to receive a (relatively) quick hearing to resolve issues that arise during discovery. Bringing a discovery dispute is the only way the Court allows the parties to address these kinds of discovery issues in a typical District of Delaware case (including both patent and non-patent cases).

Is This in the Rules or What?

Discovery disputes are not mentioned in the local rules, but all of the judges have discovery dispute procedures in their form scheduling orders. ...

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Update on Upcoming D. Del. Jury Trials

Andrew E. Russell, Jan. 10, 2021
Jury Trials Trial Calendar

Calendar
Adam Tinworth, Unsplash

It has been a while since we posted an update on upcoming jury trials in the District of Delaware.

The most recent news from the Court is that Chief Judge Stark still believes that jury trials are feasible, using the Court's enhanced jury trial procedures, and the Court intends to proceed with trials as they come up.

[UPDATE: If you arrived here via a Google search, make sure to check out our latest posts on this issue here.]

The next jury trial is set for January 25, and then there are multiple trials scheduled for mid- to late-February:

  • January 25, 2021: Judge Noreika has a jury trial scheduled in a breach of contract action, …
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Words, Words, Words

Jeff Castellano, Dec. 29, 2020
Page Limits KB

Longstanding practice in the District of Delaware, pursuant to the Court's local rules and the Judges' form scheduling orders and other standing orders, mandated page limits for briefing.
For example, the Court's local rules set limits of 20 pages for opening, briefs 20 pages for answering briefs, and 10 pages for reply briefs, all in 12 point font. See LR 7.1.3(a)(4); LR 5.1.1(a). However, since about mid-2019, some Judges here have permitted or required word limits in lieu of page limits for some types of documents.

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Judge Andrews Gives Parties Homework to Discourage Discovery Disputes

Nathan R. Hoeschen, Dec. 3, 2020
Discovery Dispute Sanctions

Excellent, now set it on fire . . . the hoop
Excellent, now set it on fire . . . the hoop Border Collie jumping through the hoop at NZDAC Gore New Zealand, Andrea Lightfoot, Unsplash

In Delaware, there are a few hoops to jump through if you want to bring a discovery dispute before the Court. Local Rule 7.1.1 is the most basic, and requires the parties to make "reasonable efforts" to resolve their disputes, including verbal communications between opposing Delaware Counsel.

Next, each Judge has their particular procedures for bringing the dispute, either requiring a joint phone call to chambers (Judges Connolly, Noreika, and Andrews) or a joint letter outlining the issues and confirming that the parties have met and conferred (Judge Stark). In either case, the parties …

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