The United States District Court for the District of Delaware has announced that Judge Sue L. Robinson will take senior status starting in February 2017. Judge Robinson served as a magistrate judge for the District of Delaware from 1988 to 1991, and was appointed as a district judge of the District of Delaware in 1991. She…

Delaware courts traditionally afford parties broad and deferential freedom of contract. In Delaware, a commercial real estate purchase and sale agreement (referred to herein as a “PSA”) is no exception—buyers and sellers are free to arrange PSAs in a wide variety of forms. Still, Delaware custom and law provide important limitations and guidance that an attorney should…

In recent years, as potential stockholder plaintiffs have begun to heed the advice of the Delaware Supreme Court to use the “tools at hand” to investigate potential corporate wrongdoing before filing derivative litigation, use of Section 220 books and records demands has become a routine precursor to derivative litigation. The announcement of an adverse corporate event…

Delaware has passed new laws that impact employers and provide employees with additional protection from discrimination.

In ART+COM InnovationPool GMBH v. Google, Inc., C.A. No. 14-217-TBD (D. Del. Sept. 9, 2016), Federal Circuit Judge Dyk, sitting by designation, denied the plaintiff’s motion for relief from judgment. This motion arose following a jury verdict that Google did not infringe any of the asserted claims of the patent in-suit. In support of its motion,…

In Impax Laboratories Inc. v. Lannett Holdings Inc., C.A. No. 14-984-RGA (D. Del. Sept. 6, 2016), Judge Andrews ruled on Lannett Holdings Inc.’s motion to preclude Impax Laboratories Inc.’s expert, Dr. Rapoport, from testifying at trial. Lannett moved to exclude Dr. Rapoport’s expert testimony on secondary considerations on five grounds: (1) Dr. Rapoport was unqualified to…

In JSDQ Mesh Technologies LLC v. Fluidmesh Networks, LLC, C.A. No. 16-212-GMS (D. Del. Sept. 6, 2016), Judge Sleet denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint, finding insufficient evidence to invalidate the four patents-in-suit under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Noting that the defendant had argued that one claim was representative of all of the asserted…

In Integra LifeSciences Corp. et al., v. HyperBranch Medical Technology, Inc., C.A. No. 15-819-LPS-CJB (D. Del. Sept. 2, 2016), Magistrate Judge Burke imposed deadlines on both parties to narrow their respective lists of asserted claims and invalidity references. On the same day he entered the scheduling order, Judge Burke entered an order requiring the plaintiffs to…

In AstraZeneca AB v. Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., et al., C.A. No. 14-664-GMS (D. Del. Sept. 15, 2016), Judge Sleet denied defendants Wockhardt BIO AG and Wockhardt USA LLC’s (collectively “Wockhardt”) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In the motion to dismiss, Wockhardt noted that it had amended the certification included in its ANDA…

This update provides short updates on judicial decisions, trends, and notable events in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, traditionally one of the three busiest jurisdictions for intellectual property litigation.