Stays Pending Patent Reexamination in the Eastern District of Texas

June 17, 2008

One of the primary factors in deciding whether to request reexamination of a patent is whether the litigation will be stayed until the reexamination process is complete. In several recent decisions from the Eastern District of Texas, defendants have been successful in meeting the test for obtaining stays pending reexamination. In the past three months, Eastern District judges have issued four opinions regarding such motions, granting three of them: Premier Int’l Associates LLC v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 2008 WL 2138158; Constellation IP, LLC v. Allstate Corp., No. 5:07-CV-132, Mem. Op.; Spa Syspatronic, AG v. VeriFone, Inc., 2008 WL 1886020; and Cooper Techs. Co. v. Thomas & Betts Corp., 2008 WL 906315.

http://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/IP_PatentReexamination_LF_17jun08.pdf