Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-02201/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-02201-41/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 190
Nature of Suit: Other Contract Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH

INSTITUTE AT HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL

CENTER,

Third Party Intervenor and

Plaintiff,

 v.

DR. GEOFFREY WHITE,

Defendant.

_____________________________________/

No. C 04-02201 JSW

VOIR DIRE

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This is a civil case involving breach of contract claims. The subject matter of the

contract at issue pertains to patents and medical devices used to repair blocked or damaged

blood vessels. These medical devices are known as vascular grafts, which include endovascular

grafts.

The Plaintiff in this case is Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor UCLA.

Medical Center (“L.A. Biomed”). The Defendant is Dr. Geoffrey White (“Dr. White”).

Between 1985 and 1989, Dr. White was an assistant professor in the Department of

Surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. In 1985, L.A. Biomed and Dr. White signed a Patent

and Copyright Agreement. I will not go into the details of the terms of this Patent and

Trademark Agreement, however L.A. Biomed claims that Dr. White breached certain terms of

that agreement and, as a result, it claims to have rights of ownership in two patents held by Dr. 

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White relating to intraluminal grants for use in treatment of aneurysms or occlusive disease.

Dr. White denies L.A. Biomed’s claims.

QUESTIONS FOR THE PANEL

1. Has any member of the panel heard or read anything about the case?

2. L.A. Biomed (formerly known as Research and Education Institute) is located in

Torrance, California. Do any of you know or have any of you had any dealings

with L.A. Biomed?

3. L.A. Biomed is represented by the following lawyers from the law firm of

Cooley Godward LLP: Gordon C. Atkinson, Linda Callison, Michelle Rhyu, and

Benjamin Damstedt.

a) Do any of you, or any member of your family or your close

friends, know any of these persons?

b) Have any of you, or any member of your family or your close

friends, had any business dealing with them or were represented

by them?

c) Have any of you, or any member of your family or your close

friends had any other similar relationship or business connection

with any of them?

4. Dr. Geoffrey White is an Australian citizen. Do any of you know or have any of

you ever had any dealings with or have you or any member of your immediate

family been treated by Dr. White?

5. Dr. White is represented by the following lawyers from the law firm of Sidley

Austin Brown & Wood LLP: Russell (“Russ”) Johnson, Matthew T. Powers,

Hugh A. Abrams, Stephen C. Carlson, Carrie Cotter, Ann Mace, and Jeffrey

Klingman.

a) Do any of you, or any member of your family or your close friends

know any of these persons?

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b) Have any of you, or any member of your family or your close

friends had any business dealing with them or were represented by

them?

c) Have any of you, or any member of your family or your close

friends had any other similar relationship or business connection

with any of them?

6. As I indicated, my name is Jeffrey S. White. Do any of you know me? 

7. My courtroom deputy is Jennifer Ottolini and my Law Clerks are Daisy Salzman,

Melissa Goldberg, and Kristin Ring. Do any of you know any of these people?

8. You were provided with a list of the parties’ witnesses when you filled out your

questionnaire. Do any of you know or have any of you had dealings, directly or

indirectly, with any of those individuals or organizations whose names were

mentioned or who may be witnesses during the course of this trial?

9. Have any of your heard or read about on-going litigation (or a trial) between L.A.

Biomed and Dr. White?

10. Have any of you or anyone in your immediate family had any training in the law?

11. Have any of you or an immediate family member ever been a party to a lawsuit?

12. Have any of you ever served as a juror in a criminal or a civil case or as a

member of a grand jury in either a federal or state court? 

13. Do any you have any feelings or opinions about lawsuits, lawyers or parties to

lawsuits that would affect your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case?

14. Do any of you have friends or close family members that are doctors? 

15. Do any of you have any experience with vascular or endovascular surgery or the

condition abdominal aortic aneurysm?

16. Do any of you have an experience or familiarity with patents? 

17. Do any of you work for a company that has patents or that deals with patented

technology?

18. Have any of your or has anyone any of you know applied for a patent?

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19. Have any of you ever been party to an agreement in which you agreed to give

your employer rights in your ideas?

20. Have any of you, or your employer, or anyone you know, ever been involved in a

lawsuit for breach of an agreement or contract?

21. Have any of you, or any member of your family or your close friends, ever had to

sign a contract as a condition of employment?

22. Have any of you, or any member of your family or your close friends, ever been

held to the terms of that contract without realizing that you had agreed to the

terms?

23. During the course of this trial, you may hear evidence of experiments performed

on live animals in order to test various medical devices. At the end of these

experiments, the animals were humanely euthanized. Will any of you be

concerned about hearing this type of evidence?

24. In the trial, Plaintiff LA Biomed will put its evidence on first and then Defendant

Dr. White has the opportunity to put on his evidence. Do any of you think that

you would have difficulty keeping an open mind regarding this case until you

have heard all of the evidence and I have instructed you on the law?

25. If you are selected as a juror, you may have to resolve conflicts in the testimony

of witnesses. This means you may have to decide whether to believe or reject all

or part of a witness' testimony. Do any of you feel that this is something you

cannot do?

26. If you are selected to sit on this case, is there anyone who thinks they will not be

able to render a verdict solely on the evidence presented at the trial and in the

context of the law as I will give it to you in my instructions, disregarding any

other ideas, notions, or beliefs about the law that you may have encountered in

reaching your verdict?

27. Having heard the questions put to you by the Court, can any of you think of any

other reason suggest as to why you could not sit on this jury and render a fair

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verdict based on the evidence presented to you and in the context of the Court’s

instructions to you on the law?

28. Do any of you have anything that you would like to bring to the Court’s attention

(e.g., health problems, hearing problems, difficulty understanding English,

personal bias, financial problems, etc.) that might affect your ability to be an

effective, fair and impartial juror?

Dated: March 13, 2006 

JEFFREY S. WHITE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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