Model Order Would Limit E-Discovery in Patent Cases

Chief Judge Randall Rader of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has unveiled a model order that would limit e-discovery in patent cases. At the 2011 Eastern District of Texas Bench Bar Conference in Irving on Sept. 27, Rader said the Federal Circuit Advisory Council unanimously voted to adopt the proposed "Model Order on E-Discovery in Patent Cases." Rader's standing-room only talk was billed as "Thoughts on the Status and Direction of Patent Litigation in the United States."

The Eastern District of Texas Bar Association and the Federal Circuit Bar Association jointly ran the three-day event.

The model order proposes several limits on the production of electronically stored information. These are laid out in the following provisions:

• Metadata is excluded from e-discovery production requests without "a showing of good cause."

• E-mail production requests must be for specific issues "not general discovery of a product or business."

• E-mail production requests should be delayed until after disclosures about the patents, the accused uses of the invention, relevant financial information and the prior art — published information about the subject matter of the claimed invention, including issued patents.

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Source: law.com
By: Sheri Qualters