Defendant Granted Leave to Amend Invalidity Contentions Despite Lack of Diligence

The court granted defendant's motion to amend its invalidity contentions to address three additional prior art references where (i) "[t]he court has not issued a Claim Construction Order and all deadlines in this case are stayed pending resolution of the inventorship and obviousness issues in this case," (ii) "[t]he prior art references are important to Defendant’s invalidity defense," (iii) "[w]hile Defendant could have been more diligent in asserting [one of the new prior art references] . . . the lack of diligence in asserting the [prior art reference] does not outweigh the other factors which favor amendment."

The Ohio Willow Wood Company v. Thermo-Ply, Inc., 9-07-cv-00274
(TXED June 10, 2009, Order) (Clark, J.)