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Entries for search: Bibas

Judge Bibas: "Equivalent" Doesn't Imply "Bioequivalent"

David M. Fry, Sept. 15, 2021
MTD Twombly

Drugs
freestocks, Unsplash

Sitting by designation in D. Del., Circuit Judge Bibas recently issued an interesting 12(b)(6) opinion on false-advertising claims in the pharma context. These opinions tend to fly under the radar, but they often contain helpful practice tips.

The parties "both sell a medical cream, each with the same active ingredients in the same strength." Although the defendant's cream "is not an FDA-approved generic and has not been tested for bioequivalence[,]" it was listed in a database of pharmaceutical products "as an 'Equivalent Drug[.]'"

Judge Bibas found that this statement was neither false nor misleading:

Yet Sebela insists that “equivalent” implies more: bioequivalence and FDA approval. . . . The FDA has not approved TruPharma’s cream. But …
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Judge Bibas: "Deadlines are not suggestions. Litigants must respect them."

Andrew E. Russell, July 19, 2021
Substantial Completion FRCP 26

Penny
Adam Nir, Unsplash

As we've discussed, parties sometimes treat the deadline for "substantial completion of document production" as a soft deadline, doing a "rolling production" afterwards that can be quite voluminous. An opinion from Judge Bibas today shows the risk of not taking that deadline seriously.

In the opinion, Judge Bibas excluded over 60,000 rows of spreadsheet sales data that were produced by a defendant in an Fair Labor Standards Act class action, after the defendant waited until six months after the deadline for substantial completion of document production to produce the data.

As usual for Judge Bibas, his opinion is an interesting read and a bit different from what we typically see from other judges in Delaware. …

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Can a Defendant's Own Patents Support an Allegation of Infringement of a Plaintiff's Patent? Yes, per Judge Bibas.

Andrew E. Russell, June 21, 2021
FRCP 12 MTD

I wonder how many actual schoolbooks use the
I wonder how many actual schoolbooks use the "Century Schoolbook" font? Hope House Press - Leather Diary Studio, Unsplash

As we mentioned in our last post, Judge Bibas of the Third Circuit has taken two D. Del. patent cases by designation, along with a number of other cases.

I've seen a number of his opinions in other cases come through over the course of the year. They are easy to identify, as his writing style differs from any other judge we've had, in a way that is interesting to see.

One particularly notable opinion of his issued back in March, and apparently slipped our notice at the time. In it, he denies an FRCP 12(b)(6) motion, holding that a defendant's own patents can serve as circumstantial evidence that its products practice the claims, if those patents describe an infringing configuration. ...

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Judge Bibas Notes Delaware Split Regarding Unclean Hands Counterclaims in Patent Cases

Andrew E. Russell, Aug. 16, 2022
MTD Motion to Dismiss

Hand Washing
Tim Mossholder, Unsplash

In an opinion on Friday, visiting Judge Stephanos Bibas of the Third Circuit pointed out a split in District of Delaware cases regarding whether a party can bring unclean hands counterclaims in patent cases:

Nor does TexasLDPC persuade me this declaratory-judgment counterclaim fails as a matter of law. True, courts disagree whether “unclean hands” can support a declaration that a patent is unenforceable. Compare In re Gabapentin Patent Litig., 649 F. Supp. 2d 340, 348 (D.N.J. 2009) (concluding it cannot), and Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. v. Cardinal Health 200, LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104983, at *2–3 (D. Del. Jul. 27, 2012) (same),[ ]with The Meds. Co. v. Teva Parenteral Meds., Inc., 2011 WL 13141923, at *1 n.2 (D. Del. Oct. 6, 2011) (denying motion to dismiss or strike unclean hands counterclaim).

Judge Bibas sided with the cases holding that "unclean hands" is a proper counterclaim in a patent action:

Still, I will not stop Defendants from demanding a declaratory judgment about the unclean-hands doctrine. In my view, I may grant such relief. See Qualcomm Inc. v. Broadcom Corp., 548 F.3d 1004, 1025–26 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (“[A] district court ...
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Judge Bibas Stays Patent Action Less Than One Month From Trial, Pending Decision on Daubert & SJ Motions

Andrew E. Russell, June 18, 2021
Sua Sponte Trial Calendar

Hit the brakes!
Hit the brakes! Arthur Poulin, Unsplash

For the first time, Judge Stephanos Bibas of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has taken at least two patent cases by designation in the District of Delaware this year (along with a number of non-patent cases):

  • TexasLDPC Inc. v. Broadcom Inc., C.A. No. 18-1966-SB (D. Del.)
  • Boston Scientific Corporation et al v. Micro-Tech Endoscopy USA Inc., C.A. No. 18-1869-SB (D. Del.)

We mentioned Boston Scientific earlier this week; it was set to go to a jury trial July 12, 2021.

On Wednesday Judge Bibas entered the following order on the docket, staying the case one day before the pretrial conference:

ORAL ORDER, The pretrial …
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Infringement Ex Machina

Nathan R. Hoeschen, Sept. 26, 2023
Copyright Fair Use

It's my dear hope that this post will be one of the few that appeals to muggles. Please, if you see one, thrust your phone at them proudly and demand they read it. Watch their terrified eyes scan over every word. Do not allow them to flee. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat!

We call this SEO in the biz
We call this SEO in the biz AI-Generated, displayed with permission

Judge Bibas gave us this gift of a general interest (comparatively) post with his decision yesterday in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. ROSS Intelligence Inc., C.A. No. 20-613-SB (D. Del. Sept. 25, 2023) (Mem. Op.).

The case deals with the exceptionally buzzy issue of AI data scrubbing. Thompson Reuters runs the hugely popular Westlaw legal research platform. As part of that service they provide they provide vaguely useful "headnotes" describing the holdings of the cases.

(Eds. Note - Westlaw, if you are reading this, we can be bought. Every 10% you discount our service will result in an improvement of the adjective above. We can go all the way from "vaguely", to "quite", to "masterfully." It's about time this blog started paying the bills).

Ross is attempting to start some sort of AI-driven competitor where you just type in a question and receive a plain language legal answer. No Booleans, no problem.

To accomplish this, they ...

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Update: D. Del. Jury Trials Set to Restart Next Week, But Cancellations Continue

Andrew E. Russell, March 29, 2021
COVID-19 Trial Calendar

April
Charles Deluvio, Unsplash

No further news on April jury trials since our last update. The following two jury trials still appear to be set, with the first to start on Monday of next week:

  • 4/5/2021: JHL Pharmaceuticals, LLC v. PuraCap Laboratories, LLC, C.A. No. 18-553-MN (D. Del.): The parties in this contract action just filed a letter indicating that they have made efforts at settlement, at Judge Noreika's request, but this case is still set to go forward as of now. The Court held the pretrial conference today.
  • 4/26/2021: USA v. Tyshaun Blue, C.A. No. 20-63-RGA (D. Del.): No change; this case appears to be set to go later next month.

To my knowledge, if it goes forward next week, JHL will be the first post-pandemic jury trial in the District of Delaware ...

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Read Those "So Ordered" Entries Closely! Court Rejects Stipulation After Warning Parties In PDF Copy of Previous "So Ordered" Stipulation

Andrew E. Russell, Nov. 3, 2023
Stipulation Litigation

In D. Del., stipulated extensions of the schedule are routine and are normally granted, with occasional exceptions. Usually, when the Court grants them, it results in an unremarkable order like this:

Order re Stipulated Extension

There's really nothing there. Occasionally, though, it results in an order like the below. Can you spot the difference?

Order re Stipulated Extension with Attachment

Can you see it? It's tiny. The only difference is that the docket number ("52") is a link. I don't blame you if you missed it.

Usually, clicking on that link, you'll find a plain-Jane stamped or signed version of the stip as filed. Nothing remarkable or meaningful at all. It feels wrong to bill .1 hours to a client to click on the stip and look at …

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Highlights from the United States District Court District of Delaware Annual Report 2023

Emily DiBenedetto, Aug. 25, 2023

This report, produced by the Court, is available on the Court's website. I’d encourage our readers to peruse the full report, but we highlight a few interesting statistics and announcements below.

IP Cases Continue to Dominate the Docket

In 2022, there was an increase in jury trials to 19 in the District of Delaware. Patent/IP cases accounted for 44% of all civil filings in the last 7 years and 43% in 2022 alone.

Pie Chart Delaware Docket
The United States District Court: District of Delaware

Nationally, patent filings decreased from 4,037 filings to 3,854. In the District of Delaware in 2022, 685 patent cases were filed, a 23.04 percent decrease from the previous year of 890. Delaware is second in the nation, after …
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November Jury Trials

Emily DiBenedetto, Oct. 22, 2021
COVID-19 Trial Calendar

This year's November begins on a Monday.
Theodorus van Hoytema

Remaining October Jury Trials

  • 10/25/2021: Boston Scientific Corp. v. Nevro Corp., C.A. 18-644-CFC-CJB (D. Del.): This patent jury trial is calendared to start on October 25 before Judge Connolly.
  • 10/25/2021: CareDx, Inc. v. Natera, Inc., C.A. 19-662-CFC-CJB (D. Del.): The parties in this trademark case will begin jury trial before Judge Connolly on October 25.

Upcoming November Jury Trials

One patent case has a long-standing trial date that appears intact, but another patent case appears close to settling.

  • 11/01/2021: Novel Drug solutions, LLC v. Harrow Health, Inc., C.A. 18-539-MN (D. Del.): Defendant proposed rescheduling the pretrial conference for an earlier date, to which the Plaintiff agreed (D.I. 368), but Judge Noreika declined the rescheduling. D.I. 369. This contract case is set to proceed for five days on November 1.
  • 11/01/2021: Shure Incorporated v. Clearone, Inc., C.A. 19-1343-RGA-CJB (D. Del.): Judge Andrews has resolved multiple merits issues (D.I. 571; D.I. 619; D.I. 621) after adopting the Magistrate Judge’s recommendations to deny most of the parties' dispositive motions. The case still appears on track to proceed to trial. ...
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