Except as provided in this paragraph or as otherwise ordered, it shall not be a
legitimate ground for objecting to an opposing party's discovery request (e.g.,
interrogatory, document request, request for admission, deposition question) or
declining to provide information otherwise required to be disclosed pursuant to Fed.
R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) that the discovery request or disclosure requirement is premature
in light of, or otherwise conflicts with, these Local Civil Rules. A party may object,
however, to responding to the following categories of discovery requests (or decline
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Local Patent Rules – U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Page 6
to provide information in its initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)) on
the ground that they are premature in light of the timetable provided in the Local
Patent Rules:
(a) Requests seeking to elicit a party's claim construction position;
(b) Requests seeking to elicit from the patent claimant a comparison of the
asserted claims and the accused apparatus, product, device, process,
method, act, or other instrumentality;
(c) Requests seeking to elicit from an accused infringer a comparison of the
asserted claims and the prior art; and
(d) Requests seeking to elicit from an accused infringer the identification of
any opinions of counsel, and related documents, that it intends to rely
upon as a defense to an allegation of willful infringement.
Where a party properly objects to a discovery request (or declines to provide
information in its initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)) as set forth
above, that party shall provide the requested information on the date on which it is
required to provide the requested information to an opposing party under these
Local Patent Rules, unless there exists another legitimate ground for objection.
