On February 25, 2014, Chief Judge Leonard Davis unveiled an expedited case management procedure available to patent litigants in the Eastern District of Texas. The new procedure, known as "Track B," is an alternative to the management procedures provided for by the local rules ("Track A"). (See General Order No. 14-3, dated February 25, 2014.)
Although Track B will be available in all patent cases, Track A remains the default procedure. Track B will not govern a case unless there is a joint and timely notice of election by all of the parties or the court on its own designates the case as Track B. Parties electing Track B must file their notice of election on or before the date by which all defendants have filed an answer or motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
Parties litigating under Track B will notice several fundamental distinctions between this new alternative and Track A, particularly with respect to the amount of key information they must exchange within the first three months of suit. Just two weeks after the defendant files its answer, the plaintiff must produce detailed information traditionally not disclosed until much later in the discovery process, including its licenses and any settlement agreements related to the patent at issue.
The defendant must then produce similarly crucial information just thirty days after filing its answer. Specifically, the defendant must produce any sales information involving not only the accused product, but also "all reasonably similar products" along with its initial disclosures.
Once the defendant has satisfied its disclosure obligation, the plaintiff has two weeks to file a good faith estimate of its expected damages as well as a description of how it arrived at that estimate. This estimate will not limit the plaintiff's damages in court.
The defendant will then have two weeks to respond with its invalidity contentions. The plaintiff has five days from the date on which it served its invalidity contentions to file a notice that the case is ready for the management conference.
The Track B procedures are summarized below:
|
Filing/Required Action |
Track A |
Track B1 |
|
Infringement contentions |
At least 10 days before the Initial Case Management Conference2 |
14 days after all defendants file an answer or FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6) motion |
|
Initial disclosures pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 26(a)(1) |
Within 14 days after the parties' FED. R. CIV. P. 26(f) conference3 |
Within 30 days of service of plaintiff's infringement contentions |
|
Summary sales information regarding accused products |
– |
Within 30 days of service of infringement contentions |
|
Good faith estimate of damages |
– |
Within 14 days of service of initial disclosures & summary sales information |
|
Invalidity contentions |
45 days after the plaintiff serves its infringement contentions4 |
14 days after plaintiff's good faith estimate of damages (about 2 months after defendant's original answer) |
|
Confer pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 26(f) |
At the Initial Case Management Conference5 |
At least 14 days before the date set for the management conference |
1General Order No. 14-3, dated February 25, 2014.
2P.R. 3-1.
3FED. R. CIV. P. 26(a)(1)(C).
4P.R. 3-3.
5P.R. 2-1(a).
