As announced in recent issue of Docket Report, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California provided an unusual ruling in the case of a company’s request to stay an action pending patent reexamination.

The case Trans Video Electronics v. Sony Electronics, Inc., Sony Corporation of America, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., and Sony Corporation, No. C 09-03304 MHP (ND Calif, March 26, 2010),  the defendants filed a motion to stay the case pending reexamination of two separate patent requests by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO.) In an unusual action, the court made a “hybrid” ruling, staying the proceedings but finding that the parties may continue to conduct discovery as to claim construction while the USPTO deliberates.

Perhaps more courts could become creative in resolving such matters, finding imaginative courses of action that are fair and beneficial to both plaintiffs and defendants.

SOURCE:
Trans Video Electronics v. Sony Electronics, Inc., Sony Corporation of America, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., and Sony Corporation, No. C 09-03304 (N.D. Calif. Mar. 26, 2010) (Order Granting in Part Defendant’s Motion to Stay Action Pending Reexamination of the Patent)