We got another good data point on Judge William's practices this wekk. In Board of Regents, The University of Texas System v. Boston Scientific Co., C.A. No. 18-392-GBW (D. Del.), Judge Williams denied a non-infringement summary judgment motion—but also scheduled a "mini-Markman" to resolve the underlying claim construction issue.
The defendant moved for summary judgment of non-infringment, arguing that the Court's prior construction of a particular term was incorrect, but that regardless, it would not infringe under either the purportedly incorrect construction or what it alleges is the correct construction.
The Court found factual disputes as to both, and easily disposed of the non-infringement motion.
The interesting part comes next—it looks like the Court more or less sua sponte decided to schedule a "mini-Markman hearing":
Since BSC continues to insist that the Court's prior claim construction of plain and ordinary meaning was incorrect, the Court will treat BSC's briefing here as a motion for claim construction as to the term "polymer fiber."
To prepare the Court to hold a mini-Markman hearing on an accelerated timeframe, the parties shall provide joint claim construction briefing to the Court. . . . The Court will hold the mini-Markman hearing on November 7, 2022 at 4:00 PM . . . .
The Court directed the parties to file a joint claim construction brief, just like the Court's regular Markman procedures, except with reduced word limits of 1000/1500/1000/500 words (about 4/6/4/2 pages). It is giving each party 30 minutes to present its arguments at the hearing, which is scheduled for a month after the order issued.
Should Start Saying "Mini-Markman" Now?
The term "mini-Markman" is not something I've heard much, if at all, from the District of Delaware. But based on a quick Lexis search it looks like other courts have used it occasionally, particularly the Eastern District of Texas.
It's a nice short term that encapsulates exactly what is going on—although, as a party, I might hesitate to use it because it sounds a lot like the dreaded "mini-trials" on evidentiary issues that judges typically seek to avoid.
If you enjoyed this post, consider subscribing to receive free e-mail updates about new posts.
