United States
Answer ... Court proceedings in the United States are generally public. In some cases, it may be possible to request to have public access to a courtroom sealed or restricted due to the presentation of trade secrets or highly confidential information. However, not all district courts take a common view on the right to seal a courtroom. As an alternative, it may be possible to protect such confidential information in an open courtroom by, for example, restricting access to relevant documents and demonstratives to the judge and jury and/or sealing exhibits.
United States
Answer ... In the United States, a patent lawsuit may be initiated by filing a complaint in a federal district court. There are 94 federal district courts in the United States. A single judge will preside over a patent case, which often includes issues related to infringement and validity. With the exception of abbreviated new drug application litigation, a party may request a trial by jury. After filing of the complaint, there is typically a scheduling conference before the court and an exchange of initial disclosures by the parties. Fact discovery is then conducted, with claim construction briefing and a Markman hearing before the court. Expert discovery then follows, with the exchange of expert reports on disputed issues, including infringement, validity and damages. Pre-trial motions are filed by the parties along with any summary judgment motions filed at this time or earlier. After a pre-trial conference and ruling on the motions by the judge, the trial will be conducted and then a final judgment on the merits will be entered.
Separately, a defendant may challenge the patentability of an issued patent by filing a petition for a post-grant review (PGR) or an inter partes review (IPR) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). If the petition is granted and the proceeding is instituted by the PTAB, the defendant may file a motion to stay the underlying patent litigation; but the district court has the discretion to grant or deny the stay and may weigh factors such as the status of the litigation and relative timing of a final decision from the PTAB, including any appeal. PGR and IPR proceedings involve limited briefing and discovery (primarily of expert witnesses) and the total time from the grant of the petition to a final written decision by statute is 12 months (with the possibility of extending to 18 months). An appeal of that decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit typically takes another one to 1.5 years.
United States
Answer ... The time from filing a patent lawsuit to a first-instance decision varies across US district courts. On average, it can take three to four years from the filing of a complaint to a decision on the merits following a trial. In some district courts, the timeline can be shorter, while in other courts it may be longer. In the United States, a single decision by trial usually includes a verdict covering infringement, validity, and damages. Following a first-instance decision, either party may appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The CAFC can affirm, reverse, revise and/or remand the decision.
In terms of separate patentability challenges at the PTAB, those proceedings can be conducted in parallel with a district court litigation involving the same patent. If the proceeding is instituted by the PTAB, the district court has the discretion to the stay the litigation pending the outcome of the PTAB proceeding. The total time from the grant of the petition to a final written decision by statute is 12 months (with the possibility of extending to 18 months). An appeal of that decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit typically takes another one to 1.5 years.
United States
Answer ... Decisions from other domestic jurisdictions (eg, federal courts in other states) have persuasive authority but are not mandatory precedent. Exceptions include doctrines such as collateral estoppel and res judicata. These doctrines may bind parties to findings of law or fact in one jurisdiction to the same findings if the parties try to relitigate the issues in the same or another jurisdiction. Decisions from outside the United States can also be noted but tend not to be influential due to differences in the law.