Local Rule 2-3: Relationship to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

2-3 Relationship to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Except as provided in this paragraph or as otherwise ordered, it shall not be a legitimate ground for objecting to an opposing party's discovery request (e.g., interrogatory, document request, request for admission, deposition question) or declining to provide information otherwise required to be disclosed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, that the discovery request or disclosure requirement is premature in light of, or otherwise conflicts with, these Local Patent Rules. A party may object, however, to responding to the following categories of discovery requests on the ground that they are premature in light of the timetable provided in these Local Patent Rules:

(a) Requests seeking to elicit a party's claim construction position;

(b) Requests seeking to elicit from a party claiming patent infringement ("Patent Claimant") a comparison of the asserted claims and the accused apparatus, product, device, process, method, act, or other instrumentality;

(c) Requests seeking to elicit from a party opposing a claim of patent infringement ("Alleged Infringer") a comparison of the asserted claims and the prior art, or invalidity contentions; and

(d) Requests seeking to elicit from an Alleged Infringer the identification of any opinions of counsel and related documents that it intends to rely upon as a defense to an allegation of willful infringement.

If a party properly objects to a discovery request as set forth in this subsection 2-3, that party shall provide the requested information on the date on which it is required to provide the requested information to an opposing party under these Local Patent Rules, unless there exists another legitimate ground for objection.