The Federal Circuit Advisory Council announced today its adoption of a Model Order Limiting Excess Patent Claims and Prior Art. The Council offered the Model Order “to aid trial courts in the exercise of their discretion in crafting orders tailored to the facts and circumstances of each case.” In adopting the Order, the Council considered several key issues, such as:
What. What should be limited—number of claims, number of prior art references, number of invalidity theories, number of terms for claim construction, number of accused products, or some combination?
Timing. When should the limits on asserted claims and prior art references
take effect? Should the limits be applied only once, or should a phased
approach gradually narrowing the scope of the case be followed? How
should the need for discovery be balanced against the value of early
streamlining?
Limitations. How should limits be formulated? Should the limits on
number of claims apply per case or per patent? How should the limits be
adjusted based on the variety of case-specific factors that courts have
considered? How can the due process rights of litigants be protected?
Effect. What effect does the judgment have on non-elected patent claims
and prior art references?
The Council concluded that “default numerical limits on the number of asserted patent claims and prior art references are workable.” And, a “phased implementation” of numerical limits would “balance the need for discovery against the benefits of early streamlining.”
The Model Order is attached below.
Federal Circuit Model Order Limiting Excess Patent Claims and Prior Art
Delaware IP Law Blog 