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3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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5 STANDING ORDER FOR PATENT CASES BEFORE
DISTRICT JUDGE TRINA L. THOMPSON
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CONFORMITY TO RULES
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1. Parties and counsel shall follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Patent
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Local Rules, and the General Orders of the Northern District of California, except as superseded
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by this Court’s standing orders.
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REFERRAL TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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Northern District of California
United States District Court
2. Any dispute regarding any party’s patent disclosures pursuant to Patent Local Rules
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3-1 to 3-5 typically is referred to the assigned Magistrate Judge. Requests to amend or strike a
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party’s infringement contentions or invalidity contentions are likewise typically referred to the
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assigned Magistrate Judge.
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EXCHANGE OF EVIDENCE
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3. The initial joint claim construction statement required by Patent Local Rule 4-3
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must be truly joint. Disputed terms, phrases, and clauses must be designated as disputed. All
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other terms will be presumed to be undisputed. For any term in dispute, the parties must agree on
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the identity of the term. With regards to disputed terms, phrases, or clauses, the joint statement
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will list each disputed term, phrase, or clause (listed by claim); each party’s proposed construction;
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and support for each party’s proposed construction side by side. A model claim construction
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statement is attached to this Order.
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4. In the joint claim construction statement, parties must either cite to the docket
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where copies of all patents in dispute can be found or attach copies of all patents in dispute. Parties
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must also make a complete prosecution history for each patent available to the Court upon request.
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1 CLAIM CONSTRUCTION
2 5. The Court will generally construe no more than 10 terms. If multiple terms present
3 identical issues, they may be grouped together or a representative term may be chosen, and each
4 group or representative term may be considered a single term for purposes of the ten-term limit. If
5 more than ten terms are at issue, the parties must meet and confer before the preparation of the
6 joint claim construction statement to narrow the number of terms that are to be construed by the
7 Court and shall jointly propose the ten terms requiring construction.
8 6. If a party has a good-faith basis for believing that more than ten terms need to be
9 construed, that party may request leave to designate additional terms for construction, pursuant to
10 Civil Local Rule 7-11. The requesting party must demonstrate good cause and explain why other
11 methods of limiting the terms at issue (such as the selection of representative terms or any
12 grouping of terms by issues presented) would be ineffective. The request must be filed no later
Northern District of California
United States District Court
13 than two weeks before the deadline for filing the joint claim construction statement. If good cause
14 is shown, the Court will either agree to construe all terms or schedule a later proceeding to
15 construe the remaining terms before trial. If more than ten terms are submitted for construction
16 without leave of court, the Court will construe only the first ten terms listed in the joint claim
17 construction statement and sanctions may be imposed.
18 CLAIM CONSTRUCTION HEARING
19 7. All hearings and appearances will be held in Courtroom 9 on the 19th Floor of the
20 United States Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Avenue , San Francisco, California.
21 8. At least 30 days before the claim construction hearing, the parties shall, separately
22 or jointly, submit a pre-recorded tutorial of no more than 45 minutes per side that presents a short
23 summary and explanation of the technology at issue (see Patent Local Rule 4-5(a)), via portable
24 media (e.g., flash drive or DVD). Nonargumentative demonstrations and visual aids are
25 encouraged, and the Court generally prefers that someone other than counsel make the
26 presentation. No argument will be permitted.
27 9. Depending on the technology involved, the Court may determine that the assistance
28 of a neutral expert would be helpful. In that case, the Court may direct the parties to confer and, if
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1 possible, reach an agreement as to three experts in the field who would be appropriate to act as a
2 neutral expert to assist the Court during the claim construction proceedings and/or the trial. The
3 Court will then choose one of the three to appoint as a neutral expert pursuant to Federal Rule of
4 Evidence 706. The parties will split the cost of the expert equally.
5 10. At the claim construction hearing, each side will generally be permitted 90 minutes
6 to present its argument. Claim construction will proceed like a typical oral argument, not a lecture.
7 All demonstrative exhibits, PowerPoints, and visual aids must be provided to the Court at least 2
8 days before the hearing. Demonstrative exhibits, PowerPoints, visual aids that are duplicative of
9 the arguments made in the parties’ claim construction briefs are strongly discouraged.
10 11. If either party wishes to present testimony at the claim construction hearing,
11 counsel must seek leave of Court by filing an administrative motion pursuant to Civil Local Rule
12 7-11 at least seven days in advance of the hearing.
Northern District of California
United States District Court
13 SUBSEQUENT CASE MANAGEMENT REPORT
14 12. Upon issuance of the claim construction ruling, the Court will also set a date for the
15 filing of a further joint case management status report. In that report, the parties must address the
16 following topics:
17 a. whether either party wishes the Court to certify the claim construction ruling
18 for immediate appeal to the Federal Circuit;
19 b. the filing of dispositive motions, and the timing of those motions;
20 c. if willful infringement has been asserted, whether the allegedly-infringing party
21 wishes to rely on the advice of counsel defense—if so, the parties should be
22 prepared to address proposals for resolving any attorney-client privilege issues
23 that arise, and whether the parties believe bifurcation of the trial into liability
24 and damages phases would be appropriate;
25 d. anticipated post-claim construction discovery;
26 e. proposed deadlines and court dates for the remainder of the case schedule;
27 f. any other pretrial matters; and
28 g. the progress of settlement discussions, if any.
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1 The Court will review the reports and, if necessary, schedule a further case management
2 conference and enter any appropriate orders.
3 IT IS SO ORDERED.
4 Dated: August 22, 2025
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TRINA L. THOMPSON
6 United States District Judge
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1 SAMPLE CLAIM CONSTRUCTION STATEMENT
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’123 Patent
3 Claim Language (Disputed Plaintiff’s Proposed Defendant’s Proposed
Terms in Bold) Construction and Evidence in Construction and Evidence in
4 Support Support
1. A method for counting a bird that quacks a bird that swims
5 ducks, comprising the steps
of: INTRINSIC EVIDENCE: INTRINSIC EVIDENCE:
6 ’123 Patent col. __;___ (“a ’123 Patent col. _:__ (“Ducks
[or] distinctive honking”); may be found on or near
7 Prosecution History at __ bodies of water.”); Prosecution
ducks (“This patent is distinguished History at __ (“Water fowl are
8 from the prior art in that the particularly amenable to being
Found in asserted claim quacking of the bird is counted by this method.”).
9 numbers: a, b, c, d featured.”).
DICTIONARY/TREATISE
10 DICTIONARY/TREATISE DEFINITIONS: Random
DEFINITIONS: Webster’s House Dictionary (“A duck:
11 Dictionary (“A duck: bird that an aquatic bird”).
quacks”); Field Guide (“A bird
12 call: quack”). EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE: G.
Northern District of California
United States District Court
Marx Depo. At __:__ (“Like a
13 EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE: duck to water.”); Daffy Decl.
McDonald Depo. at __:__ at __.
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it a duck.”); Donald Decl. at
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16 (Or any other substantively similar format that permits the Court to compare terms side by side.)
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