Thursday, July 14, 2016

No Prohibition on Laudatory Comments Regarding the PTO at Trial

The court granted plaintiff's motion in limine to preclude defendant from making derogatory statements about the PTO as unduly prejudicial and denied defendant's reciprocal motion to preclude plaintiff from making laudatory comments about the PTO. "[Defendant] may not disparage the PTO and its examiners, such as by arguing that examiners are overworked or that the PTO is prone to error. However, [defendant] may offer evidence and argument that specific mistakes were made in connection with the prosecution of the asserted patents. [Defendant's] request that the Court reciprocally preclude 'irrelevant laudatory remarks by [plaintiff] about the USPTO' is denied. The law provides that 'a patent shall be presumed valid' and 'the PTO is presumed to have done its job correctly.' [Plaintiff] is not precluded from praising or lauding the PTO in a manner consistent with the presumption of validity."

Core Wireless Licensing SARL v. LG Electronics, Inc. et al, 2-14-cv-00911 (TXED July 12, 2016, Order) (Payne, M.J.)

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