A Blog About Intellectual Property Litigation and the District of Delaware


Entries for search: concise statement of fact

So much in our world is phrased in dire, and certain, terms. "No Running," "High Voltage," "Angry Birds"—

Bellini looks evil, but she wants you to know that she loves you and she is just as fluffy as she appears
Bellini looks evil, but she wants you to know that she loves you and she is just as fluffy as she appears Me, displayed with permission

It can be hard to differentiate between those warnings that are merely distant precautions (check engine), and those that represent an understanding of a dark and heartless fate (again, angry birds). An example may help to illustrate this point.

I give you the following passage in Judge Connolly's form scheduling order on the use of pincites:

Pinpoint citations are required in all briefing, letters and concise statements of facts. The Court will ignore any assertions of uncontroverted facts and controverted legal principles not supported by a pinpoint citation . . .

Scheduling Order [Non-Patent Case], Para. 4 (Rev. March 2, 2020)

Looking at that, one might think there was some wiggle room. One would be incorrect.

We know this courtesy of a recent teleconference in In re: Seroquel XR Antitrust Litigation, C.A. No. 20-1076-CFC (D. Del. Oct. 4, 2023) (Hearing Tr.). One of the plaintiff groups had submitted briefing in support of their motion for cert and attached 466 pages of expert reports without any pincites. The defendants filed a later complaining about the issue as well as the general attachment of entire reports and transcripts rather than exhibits.

Judge Connolly then ...

mario-la-pergola-hxCQXj5mB7Y-unsplash
Mario La Pergola, Unsplash

It's easy to fall into the trap of separating rules into "technical" and "substantive" and on that basis to choose which must be followed and which can be safely ignored. Judge Noreika neatly illustrated how foolhardy this practice can be last week, when she issued a brief, two-sentence order denying a summary judgment motion:

WHEREAS, pursuant to the 47 Scheduling Order, a separate concise statement of facts shall be filed with any summary judgment motion; and WHEREAS, Plaintiff did not file such statement with its 194 Motion for Summary Judgment. THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the motion is DENIED for failure to comply with this Court's procedures set forth in the Scheduling Order

Board …

New
Nick Fewings, Unsplash

Yesterday, Magistrate Judge Burke released a new form scheduling order. There are redlines embedded below.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the changes in the patent scheduling order:

  • Added from Judge Andrews' scheduling order:
    • A requirement for plaintiffs to provide licenses and settlement agreements as part of their disclosures
    • A prompt in the scheduling order for the parties to consider a staged reduction of asserted claims and prior art, before and after claim construction (this comes up a lot)
  • Added from Judges Connolly, Noreika, and/or Hall's scheduling orders:
    • A requirement to include chart at the end listing the deadlines all together (convenient!)
    • A Concise Statement of Facts requirement for summary judgment
    • He …