ND GA Local Patent Rules Effective July 15, 2004

The new local patent rules for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia are now effective for any case filed or transferred after July 15, 2004.  They apply to all civil actions which allege infringement of a utility patent in a complaint, counterclaim, cross-claim or third party claim, or which seek a declaratory judgment that a utility patent is not infringed, is invalid or is unenforceable. 

Among other things, the new local rules require

• confidentiality prior to entry of a protective order,
• stipulated protective orders,
• early disclosure (and amendment) of infringement and invalidity contentions, 
• a presumption against bifurcation of damages and liability issues,
• late discovery of opinions of counsel,
• limited disqualification of infringement and prosecution counsel (from witness examination only),
• exchange of disputed claim terminology and interpretations leading to a joint claim construction conference,
• disclosure of expert witness reports for issues other than claim construction, and
  a presumption against expert witness report amendments. 

Click here for all of the local rules from the ND GA and click here for information on other jurisdictions.