A Blog About Intellectual Property Litigation and the District of Delaware


Entries for tag: Motions In Limine

Motions In Limine ≠ Second-Chance Summary Judgment Motions

Andrew E. Russell, Sept. 23, 2024
MILs Motions In Limine

Apples and oranges
Gowtham AGM, Unsplash

The Court has held in the past that motions in limine cannot be used to bring stealth summary judgment or Daubert motions after the deadlines for those motions (we first posted about this issue over four years ago—wow).

Last week, this issue came up again, this time with a party overtly asking the Court for two additional MILs, beyond the default three, specifically to address summary judgment issues. Unsurprisingly, the Court did not grant the motion:

Defendants seek . . . permission to file two motions in limine beyond the three motions in limine permitted by the Scheduling Order. . . . In Defendants' words: "Two requests will seek to exclude certain exhibits and testimony …
View

Judge Williams Is Not Kidding When It Comes to His 3-Motion-in-Limine Limit. Beware...

Andrew E. Russell, May 5, 2023
Ranking Sorting

Split Cup
Tania Melnyczuk, Unsplash

Most judges in the District of Delaware limit the parties to three motions in limine per side. Visiting judges sometimes permit more, but I get the sense that this limit is something native D. Del. judges generally don't want the parties to change when submitting a proposed scheduling order.

But I can't recall a patent case where the parties did not use all of their motions in limine, and want more (even if they didn't ask the Court). These evidentiary issues can just have a large effect on trial. Plus, with a mountain of work bearing down on you in the leadup to trial, it's great to think you might knock out some opposing …

View

No damages? No problem.

Andrew E. Russell, June 29, 2022
Damages Expert Witness

Dollar Bills
Sharon McCutcheon, Unsplash

Judge Bryson resolved a large pile of motions in limine this month in IOEngine, LLC v. Paypal Holdings, Inc., C.A. No. 18-452-WCB (D. Del. June 15, 2022). What's a large pile, you say? About nineteen motions in limine total if I'm counting correctly.

The opinion hits a number of the old stand-by MILs, including that the accused infringer cannot call the patentee names like "patent troll" (we've discussed that before), that PTAB and IPR proceedings do not come in and the parties cannot talk about inequitable conduct (common results), and that general evidence about the parties' size/net worth is precluded (also not uncommon).

There were a number of interesting motions, though, …

View

Just a Miscellaneous Issue

Nathan R. Hoeschen, March 10, 2022
Motions In Limine

Just some miscellaneous issues, nothing to see here
Just some miscellaneous issues, nothing to see here A nice pile of junk, Lance Grandahl, Unsplash

I pretty frequently see pretrial orders filed with a section labeled "miscellaneous issues" or "additional matters" or, someday, hopefully, "fiddle faddle."

It's a good place to put questions for the Court that might not fit anywhere else -- e.g., whether a witness may testify remotely, or if a large and unwieldy exhibit may be brought in for the jury.

Sometimes, you'll see issues that are a bit more contentious -- usually something procedural that doesn't quite rise to the level of a motion in limine. Naturally, this represents something of a procedural gray area, especially for those judges that place limits …

View

Archive