Judge Robinson Orders Hearing to Determine Whether the Parties Have Identified the Accused Products in the Case
May 12, 2016
Publication| Intellectual Property
In Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Toshiba Corp., C.A. No. 13-453-SLR (D. Del. Apr. 20, 2016), Judge Robinson scheduled an in-person hearing to ensure that the parties were proceeding through expert discovery with a “discrete set of accused products and the sales figures” at issue. Judge Robinson was concerned that the parties may not have reached an agreement on this “basic information required in a patent case.” The parties were ordered to bring witnesses knowledgeable about these subjects to the hearing to testify if needed.
Noting that fact discovery had closed, Judge Robinson also ordered the parties to be prepared to answer questions regarding the “prioritiz[ation of] their respective cases in order to pare the litigation down to a manageable size.” Judge Robinson emphasized that the purpose of this hearing was to obtain results, not to hear accusations.
Analysis: This ruling is consistent with Judge Robinson’s investment in case management to ensure that discovery moves the litigation forward on the merits and does not result in needless motions to strike or accusations that new contentions are being introduced late.