United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
WEBASTO THERMO & COMFORT NORTH AMERICA, INC. and WEBASTO-EDSCHA CABRIO USA, INC., Plaintiffs/Counter-Defendants,
v.
BESTOP, INC., Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff.
R.
Steven Whalen United States Magistrate Judge
ORDER (1) SETTING TRIAL DATES, AND (2) ESTABLISHING
TRIAL PROCEDURES
Paul
D. Borman United States District Judge
TRIAL
DATES AND PROCEDURES
Trial
in this action will begin on Thursday, August 22, 2019 at
8:30 a.m. with jury selection and will run as long as
necessary (up to 4:30 p.m.) to select a jury. The Court has
granted summary judgment to the Plaintiff on infringement of
Claim 6 of U.S. Patent No. 9, 346, 342 ("the '342
Patent). Claim 6 of the '342 Patent was the only claim
litigated in earnest in this action that has been pending for
three years. (ECF No. 230.) Accordingly, trial will be
limited to the issues of validity and damages.[1] Following seating
of the jury, trial days will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
each day with a brief mid-morning break but no break for
lunch.
At
least one week in advance of the first day of Trial, or on or
before August 15, 2019, the parties shall
submit the following materials to the Court:
• A brief paragraph on what each side claims with regard
to the patent in suit.
• A joint set of Preliminary Instructions which shall
include a brief description of the patent, an overview of the
rules regarding the issues to be tried and a brief general
explanation of what the jurors will be called upon to decide;
• A Joint set of Substantive proposed Jury Instructions.
Plaintiff shall draft a proposed set and present them to the
Defendant in sufficient time to allow the parties to meet and
confer in order to present an agreed upon proposed set of
substantive instructions to the Court by August 15, 2019.
• To the extent that the parties disagree on any
proposed jury instruction, the parties shall submit an in
depth discussion of the basis for the disagreement, including
the legal authority and related analysis on which each side
relies.
• A list of witnesses, separately stating who will be
called and who may be called, with a brief description of
each witnesses' testimony, as well as the proposed time
for direct examination of the witness;
• A stipulated General Verdict Form with written
questions. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 49(b). Plaintiff
shall draft a proposed verdict form with written questions
and present them to the Defendant in sufficient time to allow
the parties to meet and confer in order to present an agreed
upon a verdict form to the Court by August 15, 2019;
• Three complete sets of Trial Exhibits for the Court,
numbered, tabbed, and bound for easy reference during the
Trial.
The
following general trial practice guidelines also will apply:
• The parties shall provide, on the first day of trial,
a single three-ring binder for each juror for the purpose of
taking notes. The three-ring binder shall include a copy of
the patent in suit along with any ...