Claim Construction Prior to Summary Judgment Denied as Inefficient

The court denied plaintiff's motion for an early claim construction hearing and technology tutorial. "Plaintiff’s request is consistent with this court’s past practice of construing claims in advance of summary judgment. Given the inefficiencies of that practice, the court now considers requests to construe claims alongside any summary judgment motions. The court made this change after repeatedly expending significant resources construing myriad claims, most of which proved immaterial to the core issues of infringement or invalidity. . . . the possibility that claims construction may narrow the issues for summary judgment is true for virtually all patent cases, and is not a legitimate basis for treating this case differently. . . . While the court might consider an early claims construction when both parties agreed that the construction of a few key terms would meaningfully advance the case in some material way (e.g., eliminate the necessity of a further liability determination), no such stipulation or showing has been made here."

Wildcat Licensing WI, LLC v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 3-13-cv-00328 (WIWD October 15, 2013, Order) (Conley, J.)