The Law Mind

Willfulness; Discovery Of Opinions Of Counsel

E.D.N.C. Rule 303.8

(a) The substance of any advice of counsel tendered in defense to a charge of willful infringement, and any other information which might be deemed to be within the scope of a waiver attendant to disclosure of such advice, shall not be discoverable until the earlier of: (1) 7 days after a ruling on summary judgment indicating a triable issue of fact to which willfulness would be relevant; or January 2019 Return to Table of Contents Local Patent Rules – U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Page 12 (2) 30 days prior to the close of fact discovery under the Scheduling Order. (b) On the day such willfulness information becomes discoverable, the party relying on such advice shall produce the following: (1) a copy of all written opinions to be relied on by the party opposing the claim of infringement; (2) a copy of all materials or information related to the opinion that were provided to the attorney in the course of preparation of each such opinion; (3) a copy of all written attorney work product related to each such opinion that (i) was developed in the course of preparation of the opinion and (ii) was disclosed to the client; (4) identification of the date, sender and recipient (but not necessarily the substance) of all written and oral communications between the party opposing the claim of infringement and the attorney or law firm rendering any opinions to be relied on, which communications discuss the same subject matter as such opinion; (5) any other opinion(s) that discuss the same subject matter as such opinion and that were provided to the party opposing the claim of infringement by any other attorney or law firm, whether or not the party relied on such additional opinions; and (6) identification of the date, sender and recipient (but not necessarily the substance) of all written and oral communications between the party opposing the claim of infringement and the attorney or law firm rendering such opinions that were not relied on, which communications discuss the same subject matter as such opinion. (c) After such willfulness information becomes discoverable, a party claiming willful infringement shall be entitled (subject to any limitations, including limitations on numbers of depositions, otherwise imposed by the Scheduling Order) to take the deposition of any attorneys rendering the advice relied on and any persons who received such advice, including but not limited to any person who claims to have relied on such advice. (d) A party opposing a claim of patent infringement who does not comply with the requirements of this Local Civil Rule 303.8 shall not be permitted to rely on an opinion of counsel as part of a defense to willful infringement January 2019 Return to Table of Contents Local Patent Rules – U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Page 13 absent a stipulation of all affected parties or by order of the court, which shall be entered only upon a showing of good cause.
Official source: https://www.nced.uscourts.gov/pdfs/Local%20Civil%20Rules%202023.pdf · retrieved 2026-07-23