Intellectual Property Law

Still no Legal Experts in D. Del.

By thomason

From the time of my first patent trial in Wilmington, DE, around 1990, the standing order there was no “legal experts.”  It was a good rule then, and now, but now the CAFC and the Supreme Court have mixed legal rules with factual issues.   Still, in a bench trial, it is close to a professional affront to proffer a lawyer to give the Judge an opinion on the law, even the patent law.

It still is the unwritten rule in Delaware, as indicated in a short Dec. 20th Order in Vanderbilt Univ. v. ICOS Corp., (Civ. 05-506-SLR), where after having “reviewed the case law” the Judge “concluded that testimony to explain (or explain away) such law is neither needed or appropriate.”    I suppose that was cause to send that “legal expert” back to gather up his luggage at the DuPont Hotel and Metroliner back to wherever he rode into town from.

Full post as published by ISinIP on December 21, 2007 (boomark / email).