Case 2:23-cv-00314-JRG Document 59 Filed 04/11/24 Page 1 of 6 PageID #: 1422
`
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`MARSHALL DIVISION
`
`FORAS TECHNOLOGIES LTD.,
`
`v.
`
`VOLKSWAGEN AG, ET AL.,
`
`Case No. 2:23-cv-00314-JRG
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`DOCKET CONTROL ORDER
`
`In accordance with the scheduling conference held in this case, it is hereby ORDERED that
`
`the following schedule of deadlines is in effect until further order of this Court:
`
`August 4, 2025
`
`*Jury Selection - 9:00 a.m. in Marshall, Texas1
`
`7 days before Jury
`Selection
`
`10 days before Jury
`Selection
`
`July 7, 2025
`
`*Defendant to disclose final invalidity theories, final prior art
`references/combinations, and final equitable defenses.2
`
`*Plaintiff to disclose final election of Asserted Claims.3
`
`* If a juror questionnaire is to be used, an editable (in Microsoft Word
`format) questionnaire shall be jointly submitted to the Deputy Clerk in
`Charge by this date.4
`
`1 Lead counsel for Defendant Valeo SE is scheduled to be at trial in another court beginning on July 28,
`2025. That trial, which was set before the entry of this Docket Control Order, may proceed into the week
`of August 4, 2025. Counsel for Valeo SE is not requesting relief at this time, but is currently noticing
`counsel for the other parties and the Court of the present conflict with the Jury Selection date.
`
`2 The proposed DCO shall include this specific deadline. The deadline shall read, "7 days before Jury
`Selection," and shall not include a specific date.
`
`3 Given the Court's past experiences with litigants dropping claims and defenses during or on the eve
`of trial, the Court is of the opinion that these additional deadlines are necessary. The proposed DCO
`shall include this specific deadline. The deadline shall read, "10 days before Jury Selection," and shall
`not include a specific date.
`
`4 The Parties are referred to the Court's Standing Order Regarding Use of Juror Questionnaires in
`Advance of Voir Dire.
`
`

`

`Case 2:23-cv-00314-JRG Document 59 Filed 04/11/24 Page 2 of 6 PageID #: 1423
`
`
`June 30, 2025
`
`
`June 23, 2025
`
`
`June 23, 2025
`
`
`June 16, 2025
`
`
`*Pretrial Conference - 9:00 a.m. in Marshall, Texas before Judge
`Rodney Gilstrap
`
`
`*Notify Court of Agreements Reached During Meet and Confer
`
`The parties are ordered to meet and confer on any outstanding objections
`or motions in limine. The parties shall advise the Court of any agreements
`reached no later than 1:00 p.m. three (3) business days before the pretrial
`conference.
`
`
`*File Joint Pretrial Order, Joint Proposed Jury Instructions, Joint Proposed
`Verdict Form, Responses to Motions in Limine, Updated Exhibit Lists,
`Updated Witness Lists, and Updated Deposition Designations
`
`*File Notice of Request for Daily Transcript or Real Time Reporting.
`
`If a daily transcript or real time reporting of court proceedings is requested
`for trial, the party or parties making said request shall file a notice with the
`Court and e-mail the Court Reporter, Shawn McRoberts, at
`shawn_mcroberts@txed.uscourts.gov.
`
`
`File Motions in Limine
`
`The parties shall limit their motions in limine to issues that if improperly
`introduced at trial would be so prejudicial that the Court could not alleviate
`the prejudice by giving appropriate instructions to the jury.
`
`
`Serve Objections to Rebuttal Pretrial Disclosures
`
`
`Serve Objections to Pretrial Disclosures; and Serve Rebuttal Pretrial
`Disclosures
`
`
`Serve Pretrial Disclosures (Witness List, Deposition Designations, and
`Exhibit List) by the Party with the Burden of Proof
`
`
`*Response to Dispositive Motions (including Daubert Motions).
`
`Responses to dispositive motions that were filed prior to the dispositive
`motion deadline, including Daubert Motions, shall be due in accordance
`with Local Rule CV-7(e), not to exceed the deadline as set forth in this
`Docket Control Order.5 Motions for Summary Judgment shall comply
`
`5 The parties are directed to Local Rule CV-7(d), which provides in part that "[a] party's failure
`to oppose a motion in the manner prescribed herein creates a presumption that the party does
`not controvert the facts set out by movant and has no evidence to offer in opposition to the
`motion."
`
`
`
`June 9, 2025
`
`
`June 9, 2025
`
`
`June 2, 2025
`
`
`
`May 19, 2025
`
`
`
`May 12, 2025
`
`
`
`2
`
`

`

`Case 2:23-cv-00314-JRG Document 59 Filed 04/11/24 Page 3 of 6 PageID #: 1424
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`with Local Rule CV-56.
`
`*File Motions to Strike Expert Testimony (including Daubert
`Motions)
`
`No motion to strike expert testimony (including a Daubert motion) may
`be filed after this date without leave of the Court.
`
`*File Dispositive Motions
`
`No dispositive motion may be filed after this date without leave of the
`Court. 6
`Motions shall comply with Local Rule CV-56 and Local Rule CV-7.
`Motions to extend page limits will only be granted in exceptional
`circumstances. Exceptional circumstances require more than agreement
`among the parties.
`
`
`Deadline to Complete Expert Discovery
`
`
`Serve Disclosures for Rebuttal Expert Witnesses
`
`
`Serve Disclosures for Expert Witnesses by the Party with the Burden of
`Proof
`
`
`Deadline to Complete Fact Discovery and File Motions to Compel
`Discovery
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 3-7 (Opinion of Counsel Defenses)
`
`
`Submit Joint Notice Indicating Whether the Case Should Be Referred
`For Mediation
`
`
`April 28, 2025
`
`
`April 28, 2025
`
`
`April 21, 2025
`
`April 7, 2025
`
`
`March 17, 2025
`
`
`March 7, 2025
`
`
`February 24, 2025
`
`2 weeks After
`Court’s Issuance of
`Claim Construction
`Order
`
`February 3, 2025
`
`
`January 21, 2025
`
`
`January 13, 2025
`
`
`January 6, 2025
`
`
`*Claim Construction Hearing - 9:00 a.m. in Marshall, Texas before
`Judge Rodney Gilstrap
`
`
`*Comply with P.R. 4-5(d) (Joint Claim Construction Chart)
`
`
`*Comply with P.R. 4-5(c) (Reply Claim Construction Brief)
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 4-5(b) (Responsive Claim Construction Brief)
`
`6 If the deadline under Local Rule CV 7(e) exceeds the deadline for Response to Dispositive Motions,
`the deadline for Response to Dispositive Motion controls.
`
`
`
`
`
`3
`
`

`

`Case 2:23-cv-00314-JRG Document 59 Filed 04/11/24 Page 4 of 6 PageID #: 1425
`
`
`December 23, 2024
`
`
`December 23, 2024
`
`
`December 9, 2024
`
`
`December 2, 2024
`
`November 18, 2024
`
`
`November 12, 2024
`
`October 21, 2024
`
`September 30, 2024
`
`July 22, 2024
`
`
`July 22, 2024
`May 20, 2024
`
`April 15, 2024
`
`
`
`to Complete Claim Construction
`
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 4-5(a) (Opening Claim Construction Brief) and
`Submit Technical Tutorials (if any)
`Good cause must be shown to submit technical tutorials after the
`deadline to comply with P.R. 4-5(a).
`
`
`Deadline to Substantially Complete Document Production and Exchange
`Privilege Logs
`
`Counsel are expected to make good faith efforts to produce all required
`documents as soon as they are available and not wait until the substantial
`completion deadline.
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 4-4 (Deadline
`Discovery)
`
`
`File Response to Amended Pleadings
`
`
`*File Amended Pleadings
`
`It is not necessary to seek leave of Court to amend pleadings prior to this
`deadline unless the amendment seeks to assert additional patents.
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 4-3 (Joint Claim Construction Statement)
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 4-2 (Exchange Preliminary Claim Constructions)
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 4-1 (Exchange Proposed Claim Terms)
`
`
`Comply with Standing Order Regarding Subject-Matter Eligibility
`Contentions7
`
`
`Comply with P.R. 3-3 & 3-4(b) (Invalidity Contentions)
`
`Comply with P.R. 3-4(a)
`
`*File Proposed Protective Order and Comply with Paragraphs 1 & 3 of the
`Discovery Order (Initial and Additional Disclosures)
`
`The Proposed Protective Order shall be filed as a separate motion with the
`caption indicating whether or not the proposed order is opposed in any part.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`7http://www.txed.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/judgeFiles/EDTX%20Standing%200rder%20
`Re%20Subject%20Matter%20Eligibility%20Contentions%20.pdf
`[https://perma.cc/RQN2-
`YU5P]
`
`4
`
`

`

`Case 2:23-cv-00314-JRG Document 59 Filed 04/11/24 Page 5 of 6 PageID #: 1426
`
`April 8, 2024
`
`
`April 1, 2024
`
`March 11, 2024
`
`
`
`*File Proposed Docket Control Order and Proposed Discovery Order
`
`The Proposed Docket Control Order and Proposed Discovery Order shall be
`filed as separate motions with the caption indicating whether or not the
`proposed order is opposed in any part.
`
`
`Join Additional Parties
`
`Comply with P.R. 3-1 & 3-2 (Infringement Contentions)
`
`
`
`(*) indicates a deadline that cannot be changed without an acceptable showing of good
`cause. Good cause is not shown merely by indicating that the parties agree that the
`deadline should be changed.
`
`
`ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
`
`Mediation: While certain cases may benefit from mediation, such may not be appropriate for
`every case. The Court finds that the Parties are best suited to evaluate whether mediation will benefit
`the case after the issuance of the Court's claim construction order. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS
`the Parties to file a Joint Notice indicating whether the case should be referred for mediation within
`fourteen days of the issuance of the Court's claim construction order. As a part of such Joint Notice,
`the Parties should indicate whether they have a mutually agreeable mediator for the Court to consider.
`If the Parties disagree about whether mediation is appropriate, the Parties should set forth a brief
`statement of their competing positions in the Joint Notice.
`
`
`Summary Judgment Motions, Motions to Strike Expert Testimony, and Daubert
`Motions: For each motion, the moving party shall provide the Court with two (2) hard copies of the
`completed briefing (opening motion, response, reply, and if applicable, sur-reply), excluding exhibits,
`in D-three-ring binders, appropriately tabbed. All documents shall be single-sided and must include
`the CM/ECF header. These copies shall be delivered to the Court within three (3) business days after
`briefing has completed. For expert-related motions, complete digital copies of the relevant expert
`report(s) and accompanying exhibits shall be submitted on a single flash drive to the Court. Complete
`digital copies of the expert report(s) shall be delivered to the Court no later than the dispositive motion
`deadline.
`
`
`Indefiniteness: In lieu of early motions for summary judgment, the parties are directed to
`include any arguments related to the issue of indefiniteness in their Markman briefing, subject to the
`local rules' normal page limits.
`
`Lead Counsel: The Parties are directed to Local Rule CV-1 l(a)(l), which provides that "[o]n
`the first appearance through counsel, each party shall designate a lead attorney on the pleadings or
`otherwise." Additionally, once designated, a party's lead attorney may only be changed by the filing of
`a Motion to Change Lead Counsel and thereafter obtaining from the Court an Order granting leave to
`designate different lead counsel. The true lead counsel should be designated early and should not
`expect to parachute in as lead once the case has been largely developed.
`
`Motions for Continuance: The following will not warrant a continuance nor justify a failure
`to comply with the discovery deadline:
`
`
`
`5
`
`

`

`Case 2:23-cv-00314-JRG Document 59 Filed 04/11/24 Page 6 of 6 PageID #: 1427
`
`The fact that there are motions for summary judgment or motions to dismiss pending;
`
`The fact that one or more of the attorneys is set for trial in another court on the same day, unless
`the other setting was made prior to the date of this order or was made as a special provision for
`the parties in the other case;
`
`
`(a)
`
`(b)
`
`
`(c)
`
`The failure to complete discovery prior to trial, unless the parties can demonstrate that it was
`impossible to complete discovery despite their good faith effort to do so.
`
`
`Amendments to the Docket Control Order ("DCO"): Any motion to alter any date on the DCO
`shall take the form of a motion to amend the DCO. The motion to amend the DCO shall include a
`proposed order that lists all of the remaining dates in one column (as above) and the proposed changes
`to each date in an additional adjacent column (if there is no change for a date the proposed date column
`should remain blank or indicate that it is unchanged). In other words, the DCO in the proposed order
`should be complete such that one can clearly see all the remaining deadlines and the changes, if any,
`to those deadlines, rather than needing to also refer to an earlier version of the DCO.
`
`Proposed DCO: The Parties' Proposed DCO should also follow the format described above under
`"Amendments to the Docket Control Order ('DCO')."
`
`Joint Pretrial Order: In the contentions of the Parties included in the Joint Pretrial Order, the Plaintiff
`shall specify all allegedly infringed claims that will be asserted at trial. The Plaintiff shall also specify
`the nature of each theory of infringement, including under which subsections of 35 U.S.C. § 271 it
`alleges infringement, and whether the Plaintiff alleges divided infringement or infringement under the
`doctrine of equivalents. Each Defendant shall indicate the nature of each theory of invalidity, including
`invalidity for anticipation, obviousness, subject-matter eligibility, written description, enablement, or
`any other basis for invalidity. The Defendant shall also specify each prior art reference or combination
`of references upon which the Defendant shall rely at trial, with respect to each theory of invalidity. The
`contentions of the Parties may not be amended, supplemented, or dropped without leave of the Court
`based upon a showing of good cause.
`
`Trial: All parties must appear in person at trial. All non-individual (including but not limited to
`corporate) parties must appear at trial through the presence in person of a designated representative.
`Once they have appeared, any representative of a non-individual party shall not be replaced or
`substituted without express leave of Court.
`
`
`
`
`6
`
`.
`
`____________________________________
`RODNEY GILSTRAP
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
`
`So ORDERED and SIGNED this 11th day of April, 2024.
`
`