Contract Law Expert Report Stricken as Unhelpful

The court granted plaintiff's motion to strike report of defendant's contract expert regarding whether defendant sold anticipating prior art before the critical date because the testimony was unhelpful. "There is little evidence in the expert report that [the expert] has brought any of his expertise to this exercise. . . . The [expert] indicates no particular expertise in review of purchase orders, invoices, product shipping records, or the like. He indicates no particular expertise in interpreting what the fact witnesses who have been deposed have said. He indicates no reliance on anything relevant to the particular industry. In my opinion, any reasonably literate English-speaker could apply the legal principles to the factual record on the relevant sale and offer to sell issues. . . . The only specialized knowledge that [the expert] has is the same thing -- contract law -- which in our system is my responsibility. For the most part, his expert report outlines the closing argument one might expect Defendant's lawyer to make after the jury has heard the underlying testimony and seen the underlying documents."

BASF Corporation v. Johnson Matthey Inc., 1-14-cv-01204 (DED June 6, 2018, Order) (Andrews, USDJ