(a) When Permitted. A person charged with a criminal offense under 18 U.S.C. § 13, may,
in lieu of an appearance, post collateral with a magistrate judge and consent to forfeit
that collateral. But the offense must be one for which:
(1) the penalty under state law is equal to, or less than, that of a misdemeanor; and
(2) an appearance is not mandatory.
(b) Schedule of Offenses. These offenses, and the collateral amounts to be posted (if
applicable), must appear on a schedule available for public inspection in each of the
clerk’s divisional offices. The schedule will be effective until rescinded or superseded by
court order. The clerk must furnish copies of the schedule to the legal publishing
houses that publish and distribute, for commercial purposes, the court’s rules. The
schedule should be included in any subsequent publication containing these rules.
(c) Failure to Appear. The collateral will be forfeited if the person charged with an offense
covered by this rule fails to appear before the magistrate judge. The forfeiture:
(1) signifies that the offender neither:
(A) contests the charge; nor
(B) requests a hearing before the magistrate judge; and
(2) constitutes a finding of guilt.
(d) When Forfeitures Are Not Permitted. Forfeitures are not permitted for violations
involving an accident that results in personal injury. Arresting officers must treat
multiple and aggravated offenses as mandatory-appearance offenses, and must direct
the accused to appear for a hearing.
(e) Discretion of Officers to Arrest. Nothing in this rule prohibits a law-enforcement
officer from:
(1) arresting a person for committing an offense (including those for which
collateral may be posted and forfeited); and
(2) either:
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Criminal Rule 58-1
(A) requiring the accused to appear before a magistrate judge, or
(B) taking that person before a magistrate judge immediately after arrest.
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Patent Rule 1-1
N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 1–1 Scope of the Patent Rules
(a) Applicability. These rules govern cases in which jurisdiction is based, in whole or in part,
on 28 U.S.C.§ 1338. The court may depart from these rules in exceptional
circumstances.
(b) Compliance. Litigants are expected to comply with these rules. They may not circumvent
them by, for example, pursuing discovery into infringement and invalidity contentions by
seeking discovery responses before completion of the preliminary contentions process
outlined in N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 3-1.
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Patent Rule 2-1
N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 2-1 Scheduling, Discovery, and Orders
(a) Scheduling Conference. The court will hold a scheduling conference within 30 days
after the last answer is filed.
(b) Discovery Plan. The parties must comply with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) before the
conference. Their discovery plan must address these topics:
• Date/place of conference;
• Counsel present/parties represented;
• Case summary;
• Jurisdictional questions;
• Type of trial;
• Discovery needed;
• Electronic-information disclosures;
• Stipulation regarding privilege claims/protecting trial-preparation materials;
• Interrogatories;
• Requests for admission;
• Depositions;
• Joinder of additional parties;
• Amending pleadings; and
• Settlement possibilities/mediation.
(c) Protective Orders. The court strongly prefers jointly proposed protective orders. They
should be filed with the discovery plan. If the parties are unable to agree on a
protective order, they may submit competing proposed protective orders accompanied
by memoranda explaining the differences between the proposed orders and the party’s
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Patent Rule 2-1
justification for its proposal. These memoranda may not exceed five pages.
(d) Discovery Order. The court will issue a discovery order promptly after the 16(b)
conference and rule on any protective-order requests.
(e) Confidential Disclosures. Before a protective order is entered the parties may not delay
making the disclosures these rules require—or responding to discovery—on
confidentiality grounds. The producing party may designate confidential disclosures and
discovery responses as “outside attorneys’ eyes only” until a protective order is
entered. Once entered, all information must be treated according to the order’s terms.
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Patent Rule 3-1
N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 3-1 Preliminary Disclosures
(a) Preliminary Infringement Contentions. Within 28 days after the last answer is filed, a
party claiming patent infringement must serve on all parties its preliminary infringement
contentions.
(b) Content. The preliminary infringement contentions must include an infringement-claim
chart for each accused product or process (the accused instrumentality). If two or more
accused instrumentalities have the same relevant characteristics, they may be grouped
together in the same chart. Each claim chart must contain the following contentions:
(1) Each claim of each patent in suit that is allegedly infringed by the accused
instrumentality;
(2) A specific identification of where each limitation of the claim is found within
each accused instrumentality, including for each limitation that the party
contends is governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), the identity of the structures, acts, or
materials in the accused instrumentality that performs the claimed function;
and
(3) Whether each limitation of each asserted claim is literally present in the accused
instrumentality or present under the doctrine of equivalents.
(c) Document Production. The party asserting patent infringement must produce to each
party (or make available for inspection and copying) the following documents with its
preliminary infringement contentions and identify—by production number—which
documents correspond to each category:
(1) Documents demonstrating each disclosure, sale (or offer to sell), or any public
use, of the claimed invention before the application date for each patent in suit
or the priority date (whichever is earlier);
(2) All documents that were created on or before the application date for each
patent in suit or the priority date (whichever is earlier) that demonstrate each
claimed invention’s conception and earliest reduction to practice;
(3) A copy of the certified Patent Office-file history for each patent in suit; and
(4) All documents demonstrating ownership of the patent rights by the party
asserting infringement.
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Patent Rule 3-1
(d) Safe Harbor. Producing documents under this rule is not an admission that the
document is – or constitutes – prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102.
(e) Preliminary Invalidity Contentions. Within 28 days after receiving the preliminary
infringement contentions, each party opposing the patent-infringement claim must
serve on all parties its preliminary invalidity contentions. These contentions must
include a chart (or charts) identifying each allegedly invalid claim, and each item of prior
art that anticipates or renders each claim obvious. Claim charts must contain the
following contentions:
(1) How and under what statutory section the item qualifies as prior art,
(2) Whether the prior-art item anticipates or renders each allegedly invalid claim
obvious,
(3) A specific identification of where in the prior-art item each limitation of each
allegedly invalid claim is found, including for each limitation alleged to be
governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), where the corresponding structures, acts, or
materials are found in the prior-art item that performs the claimed function,
and
(4) Why, if obviousness is alleged, the prior art renders the allegedly invalid claims
obvious, including why combining the identified items of prior art demonstrate
obviousness, and explain why a person of skill in the art would find the allegedly
invalid claims obvious in light of such combinations (e.g., reasons for combining
references).
(5) A statement identifying with specificity any other asserted grounds of invalidity
of any allegedly invalid claims, including contentions based on 35 U.S.C. §§ 101,
112, or 251.
(f) Document Production. The party opposing a patent-infringement claim must produce
to all parties (or make available for inspection and copying) the following documents
with its preliminary invalidity contentions. The producing party must separately identify
by production number which documents correspond to which category.
(1) Documents sufficient to show the operation of any aspects or elements of an
accused instrumentality identified by the patent claimant in its preliminary
infringement contentions charts; and
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Patent Rule 3-1
(2) A copy or sample of the prior art identified under N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 3(e). If these
items are not in English, an English translation of the portions relied upon must
be produced.
(g) Declaratory-judgment Actions. The same disclosure process (including the same
disclosure sequence) applies in declaratory-judgment actions in which the plaintiff is
asserting non-infringement, invalidity, or unenforceability of the patent(s) in suit. For
example, in such actions the defendant-patentee will assert preliminary infringement
contentions under the schedule set out above. If infringement is not contested, the
parties seeking a declaratory judgment must comply with N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 3-1(c) and 3-
1(f) within 28 days after the last answer is filed.
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Patent Rule 4-1
N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 4-1 Claim-construction Proceedings
(a) Exchanging Terms. Within 14 days after receiving the preliminary invalidity contentions
(or within 42 days after receiving the preliminary infringement contentions in those
actions in which validity is not at issue), each party must serve on all other parties a list
of claim terms that the party contends should be construed by the court (terms for
construction), and identify any claim term that the party contends should be governed
by 35 U.S.C. § 112(f).
(b) Exchanging Preliminary Claim Constructions and Extrinsic Evidence; Parties’
Conference.
(1) Within 14 days after the proposed terms for construction are exchanged, the
parties must exchange proposed constructions of each term (preliminary claim
construction[s]). Each preliminary claim construction must also, for each term
which any party contends is governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), identify the function
of that term and the structures, acts, or materials corresponding to that term’s
function.
(2) When the parties exchange their preliminary claim constructions, they must also
identify all references from the specification or prosecution history that support
its construction and designate any supporting extrinsic evidence including:
(A) dictionary definitions;
(B) citations to learned treatises and prior art, and
(C) testimony of percipient and expert witnesses.
(3) Within 14 days after the preliminary claim constructions are exchanged, the
parties must meet and confer to limit the terms in dispute by narrowing or
resolving differences and plan to prepare a joint claim-construction and
prehearing statement. The parties must also jointly identify no more than ten
disputed terms per patent in suit, unless the court grants more for inclusion in
the joint claim-construction and prehearing statement. If a dispute arises as to
which terms to include in the joint claim-construction and prehearing
statement, each side must be presumptively limited to five disputed terms per
patent in suit. This limit may only be altered by leave of court.
(c) Joint Claim-construction and Prehearing Statement. Within 14 days after they meet
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Patent Rule 4-1
and confer, the parties must complete and file a joint claim-construction and prehearing
statement. This statement must address the disputed terms and contain the following
information:
(1) The construction of those terms on which the parties agree;
(2) Each party’s construction of each disputed term (with the identity of all
references from the specification or prosecution history that support its
construction) and the identity of any extrinsic evidence known to the party on
which it intends to rely either to support its construction or to oppose another
party’s construction, including dictionary definitions, citations to learned
treatises and prior art, and testimony of percipient and expert witnesses;
(3) The anticipated length of time necessary for the claim-construction hearing; and
(4) If witnesses are to be called at the claim-construction hearing, the identity of
each such witness, and for each witness, a summary of his or her testimony
including, for any expert witness, a report containing the expert’s claim-
construction opinions and the reasons for them.
(d) Completing Claim-construction Discovery. Within 21 days after the joint claim-
construction and prehearing statement is filed, the parties must complete all discovery
relating to claim construction, including witness depositions.
(e) Claim-construction Briefs
(1) Opening Briefs. Within 14 days after completing claim-construction discovery,
the parties must file their respective opening briefs and any evidence supporting
their claim constructions.
(2) Length. Opening briefs may not exceed 30 pages without leave of court.
(3) Response Briefs. Within 21 days after receiving an opening brief, each opposing
party must file any response briefs and supporting evidence.
(4) Length. Response briefs may not exceed 20 pages without leave of court.
(5) Additional Briefs. Reply and surreply briefs are not permitted without leave of
court.
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Patent Rule 4-1
(f) Joint Claim-construction Chart. Within 7 days of the last-filed response brief, the
parties must file a joint claim-construction chart, in the format set forth in
Appendix D, containing:
(1) a column listing each disputed claim term, with the disputed language in
bold type;
(2) a column in which agreed construction of any claim language material to
the dispute is explained; and
(3) separate columns for each party’s proposed construction of the disputed
claim term, briefly stated, with supporting citations to the specification,
prosecution history or extrinsic evidence relied upon.
(g) Claim-construction Hearing. When necessary to construe the claims, the court will
endeavor to conduct a claim-construction hearing within 63 days after briefing is
complete.
(h) Tutorial Hearings. The court may order a tutorial hearing to occur before, or during, the
claim-construction hearing.
(i) Orders. The court will work expeditiously to issue a prompt claim-construction order
after the hearing.
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Patent Rule 5-1
N.D. Ind. L.P.R. 5-1 Final Patent Disclosures
