Relationship to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Except as provided in this paragraph or as otherwise ordered, a party may not object to an opposing party’s discovery request (e.g., interrogatory, document request, request for admission, deposition question) or decline to provide information otherwise required to be disclosed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1), on the basis that the discovery request or disclosure is premature in light of, or otherwise conflicts with, these Patent Local Rules, absent other legitimate objection. A party may object, however, to responding to the following categories of discovery requests (or decline to provide information in its initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1 on the grounds that they are premature in light of the timetable provided in the Patent Local Rules: (a) (b) (c) (d) Requests seeking to elicit a party’s claim construction position; Requests seeking to elicit from the patent claimant a comparison of the asserted claims and the accused apparatus, product, device, process, method, act, or other instrumentality; Requests seeking to elicit from an accused infringer a comparison of the asserted claims and the prior art; and Requests seeking to elicit from an accused infringer the identification of any advice of counsel and related documents. Where a party properly objects to a discovery request (or declines to provide information in its initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1 as set forth above, that party must, without further request, provide the requested information on the date on which it is required to be provided to an opposing party under these Patent Local Rules or as set by the court, unless there exists another legitimate ground for objection.

4 -3- PATENT DISCLOSURES