Northern District of California Patent Litigants May Face Increased Disclosure Obligations Under Recent Interpretation of Patent Local Rules

August 2020 – Judge William Alsup has interpreted the Northern District of California’s Patent Local Rules in a manner that increases the disclosure obligations of litigants.  On August 25, 2020, the court ruled in Fluidigm Corp. v. IONPath, Inc. (Case No. C 19-5639 WHA) that a party has an obligation to amend its infringement or invalidity contentions to preserve arguments in case the Court adopts the opposing party’s claim construction.  These “back-up” contentions must be served before claim construction and failure to serve contingent “back-up” contentions can result in waiver.  View a PDF copy of the update.