The Judges of the United States District Court, Northern District of California, have approved proposed substantive modifications to Patent Local Rules 3-1 and 3-6. Pursuant to Civil L.R. 83-2(b), public comments on the proposed modification may be submitted to media@cand.uscourts.gov until Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. PDT.
The proposed amendments would:
• Clarify Patent Local Rule 3-1(e) to require more detailed disclosures when a party alleges infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, including identification of the specific portion of the accused instrumentality alleged to be equivalent and an explanation of how it is insubstantially different from the claimed limitation (e.g., under the function/way/result or other applicable test).
• Amend Patent Local Rule 3-6(a) to clarify that good cause to amend infringement or invalidity contentions based on claim construction exists only when the Court adopts a construction that differs from any construction proposed by any party in the Joint Claim Construction and Prehearing Statement.
See this document for a redline and clean version of the proposed revisions.