Judge Thynge Denies Motion to Bifurcate Parties' Damages Claims in Patent Action
By Memorandum Order entered by The Honorable Mary Pat Thynge in Masimo Corporation v. Philips Electronics North America Corporation, et al., Civil Action No. 09-80-LPS-MPT (October 6, 2010), the Court denied defendants’ motion to bifurcate the issues of liability and damages with respect to the parties’ infringement claims and to stay discovery on the issue of patent damages until liability is resolved. Id. at 13. In denying the motion, the Court concluded that, although defendants maintained that an order to bifurcate and stay discovery on patent damages would conserve resources and further judicial efficiency in the event the jury found non-infringement or patent invalidity, the possibility of resource conversation is outweighed by the duplicate resources that would be required due to the overlap of evidence in plaintiff’s patent liability and patent damages case, by defendants’ failure to establish a greater probability in prevailing on their infringement defense than plaintiff prevailing on its claims, and by the likelihood of undue prejudice against plaintiff in the event of further bifurcation. Id. at 12-13.
A complete copy of the Memorandum Order is attached.
