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23 October 2015Patents

AIPLA 2015: Judges provide tips on patent litigation

Judges advised parties not to seek summary judgment in order to educate the court during a panel session on patent litigation at the AIPLA 2015 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

In a discussion yesterday, October 22, Faith Hochberg, a former judge at the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, said summary judgment takes up a lot of court time.

“The real question is, is there a way to exercise restraint in this area?” she asked, adding that: “If there is a temptation to file summary judgment to educate the court, it’s best to do that at the trial stage.”

Summary judgment motions should only be filed to eliminate issues where there are no reasonable disputed facts, she continued, and never be used as a discovery tool.

Earlier in the session, Judge John Koeltl, who is based at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, said parties should let the court know in advance if they plan to file any motions.

“Parties should advise the court as soon as practicable, during case management and on an ongoing basis, whether motions in the proceedings, or filings or petitions in parallel proceedings, are likely to be filed that may substantially affect the management of the case.

“The court’s case management schedule should require timely filing of all motions early enough such that a timely ruling would allow the parties a fair and full opportunity to account for it in order to streamline discovery, motion practice and trial preparations,” he said.

“So, plan ahead with motions and keep the court informed, notify the court as soon as possible if you plan to file an inter partes review, and notify the court of any likely dispositive issues,” he added.

In an earlier section of the session called “Managing the scope of litigation: getting cards on the table”, parties were also advised to work together to narrow the issues, to not “hide the ball with respect to contentions or relevant documents”, to focus discovery on what is needed for trial, to ensure the lead trial counsel is providing guidance throughout, and that information and documents that are not timely disclosed should be inadmissible at trial.

The AIPLA 2015 Annual Meeting takes place from October 22 to 24 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.

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