Intellectual Property Law

Judge Sleet: Post-verdict JMOL must be denied where the party does not file the JMOL pre-verdict

By Karen E. Keller, Andrew A. Lundgren et al.

In Linear Technology Corporation v. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc., C.A. No. 06-476 GMS (D. Del. Nov. 12, 2009) Judge Sleet denied Defendant's JMOL Motion on the issue of obviousness. Id. at 5. Judge Sleet noted that Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a) requires a JMOL motion to be submitted before the case is turned over to the jury. Id. Then, Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b) permits the renewal of the JMOL motion after the jury returns a verdict. Id. However, "[a] party dissatisfied with a jury verdict may not prevail on a post-verdict JMOL motion based on grounds not raised in a pre-verdict JMOL motion. By logical extension, when a party fails to file a pre-verdict JMOL altogether, any grounds for JMOL sought by way of a post-verdict motion must be denied." Id. (internal citations omitted).

Linear Technology Corporation v. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc., C.A. No. 06-476 GMS (D. Del. Nov. 12, 2009)

Full post as published by Delaware IP Law Blog on November 17, 2009 (boomark / email).