The Federal Circuit released a model order in September that recommends significant new limits on e-discovery in patent cases. A subcommittee of judges and lawyers headed by Chief Judge Randall Rader drafted the order, which was unanimously adopted by the Federal Circuit Advisory Council.
The limits aim to reduce the costs of discovery in intellectual property cases, which average 62 percent higher than non-IP cases, according to a 2010 report from the Federal Judicial Center, the research and education agency of the U.S. federal court system. This higher cost results from the volume of scientific and technical material and wide product time frames involved in most patent litigation. Courts that rush through patent cases also escalate costs, according to Patrick Oot, co-founder and general counsel of the non-profit Electronic Discovery Institute.
