Judge Davis Modfies Local Patent Rule 4-5<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Judge Davis yesterday announced a modification to his local patent rules, consisting of the insertion of a new section (d) under Patent Rule 4-5 "Claim Construction Briefs" (click below to see the new provision). The new provision requires the parties to jointly submit a claim construction chart in electronic format (WordPerfect) 10 days before the Markman hearing with columns for the disputed terms, the parties' proposed constructions, and the Court's instruction (to be added by the Court later, obviously). Judge Davis accords the parties "substantial latitude" in the format of the chart, and suggests that parties consult appendices to his prior claim construction opinions, both published and unpublished. (An example is in Retractable Technologies v. New Medical Technologies, 2004 WL 435054, NO. 4:02-CV-34, 4:03-CV-49 (March 3, 2004))

As of this writing, the version of Judge Davis' patent rules on the Eastern District website had not been updated to reflect this new change