Delaware Patent Litigation Report : Delaware Intellectual Property Lawyer & Attorney : Morris James Law Firm : Delaware Patent Litigation Report

This infringement case was trifurcated and a bench trial held on the issues of defendant’s alleged spoliation of evidence and unclean hands.  The record demonstrates that defendant implemented litigation strategy which included adoption of a new document retention policy that resulted in the destruction of material documents.  Evidence supports conclusion that destroyed documents were relevant to plaintiff’s asserted defenses.  Thus plaintiff is prejudiced by the loss of evidence.  In addition, the litigation record reveals several significant misrepresentations by defendant regarding, among other things, the involvement and knowledge of certain key witnesses.  Court finds that the extensive nature of the spoliation when combined with the bad faith litigation conduct warrants imposition of dispositive sanctions and declares patents-in-suit unenforceable.