Judge Andrews recently postponed another patent jury trial that had been scheduled for September 21, 2020.
The ruling in Baxalta Incorporated v. Bayer Healthcare LLC, C.A. No. 17-1316-RGA, D.I. 529 (D. Del. Aug 12, 2020) followed the submission of a joint status report where the plaintiffs suggested the case should go forward, citing prejudice to them if the case remains unresolved for the foreseeable future.
The defendant responded by pointing to the obvious difficulties of holding a trial when "no witness resides in Delaware" and lead counsel and their "entourages" are from out of state.
Judge Andrews notably stated that he believed it would be possible to select a jury in September, but thought that "it would be a lot better to have a test jury trial where the practical difficulties of the trial are not exacerbated by having nearly every significant participant in the trial being from out-of-state."
Parties with trials scheduled in the near future should also note that Judge Andrews warned in a footnote that they "should expect to be double- or triple-booked for trial."
He also warned that "the parties should expect that they may not know until the eve of trial whether their trial will move forward."
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