Banner & Witcoff partner Robert H. Resis states: New local patent rules adopted by the Northern District of IL are now on the NDIL web site. A press release announcing the adoption can be found here.
Importantly, Chief Judge Holderman indicated at a recent bar conference that these rules will affect pending cases. These Patent Rules are similar to those in the N.D. of California and the E.D. of Texas, but differ in two significant aspects: (1) the N.D. of Illinois Patent Rules are designed to promote uniformity within the district, not speed (the estimated patent schedule under the new rules is about two years from service of the complaint to the case being ready for trial); and (2) the parties opposing infringement open and close Markman briefing, which in most cases will be toward the end of fact discovery (see LPR 4.1 through 4.3).
Below is a link to the estimated patent case schedule.
Estimated Patent Case Schedule
Posted: October 1, 2009
