Despite a recent spate of postponements of jury trials, the District Court today officially entered Phase 2 of its reopening plan (District Court Details Re-Opening Plan), permitting jury trials to go forward on a limited and heavily regulated basis.
Two weeks ago, the Court issued a standing order conditionally setting September 15 as the beginning of Phase 2, but the public notice issued today and attached below makes it official.
A review of the reopening guidelines, the September 1 standing order, and today's notice makes one thing clear: patent jury trials will be the exception, not the norm, for the foreseeable future. The Court noted in the standing order that it anticipates conducting "no more than one jury trial at a time and will give priority to criminal trials."
Echoing earlier guidance, today's notice states that the transition "has no direct impact on any particular proceeding and that "case-specific decisions will be made by the presiding Judge."
Nonetheless, even with these restrictions and prioritization of criminal trials, it is not unreasonable to think we might see a few patent jury trials per month in the near future.
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