Defendant May Not Rely on Component of Previously Disclosed Prior Art Reference as a Separate Invalidating Reference

​ The court granted plaintiff's motion to preclude defendant from presenting evidence that a component of a previously disclosed prior art reference invalidated the patent-in-suit because of the undue prejudice to plaintiff. "While [defendant] may argue that [previously disclosed reference] anticipates the patent-in-suit, it does not follow that [defendant] can argue that [the component] alone anticipates or renders obvious the patent-in-suit even though [the component] is a component of [the previously disclosed reference]. [Defendant] should have specifically disclosed in its invalidity contentions its intention to argue that [the component] alone anticipates or renders obvious the patent-in-suit. . . . There is substantial prejudice to Plaintiff from [defendant's] late disclosure because [plaintiff's] expert has not assessed [the component] as potentially invalidating art and [plaintiff] is prevented fact discovery or deposing [defendant's] expert on this issue."

EI du Pont de Nemours and Company v. Unifrax I LLC, 1-14-cv-01250 (DED May 5, 2017, Order) (Andrews, USDJ)