Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-02201/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-02201-36/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

MEDTRONIC, INC.,

Plaintiff,

 v.

DR. GEOFFREY WHITE,

Defendant.

 /

LA BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

AT HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER,

Third-Party Intervenor and

Plaintiff,

 v.

GEOFFREY WHITE,

Defendant.

_____________________________________/

No. C 04-02201 JSW

ORDER ON PARTIES BRIEFS RE

OBJECTIONS TO TRIAL

EXHIBITS

The Court has received and considered the parties’ briefs on objections to trial exhibits. 

Having considered the parties’ arguments, the Court’s rulings are set forth in the remainder of

this Order. The Court shall not revisit the rulings in this Order prior to trial, nor shall the parties

respond in writing to this Order. 

The Court FURTHER ORDERS that time spent resolving an objection at trial shall be

counted against the party raising the objection, regardless of the outcome.

1. Articles and Publications: Articles or publications shall not be admitted in their 

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1 The parties shall not refer to the “overlapping GAD-graft device” as the

“overlapping GAD-graft invention” at trial. The parties shall follow the language of the

contract, which defines an “invention” as a “possibly patentable device.” The Court has

ruled that the “possibly patentable device” in question is the “overlapping GAD-graft

device.”

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entirety, rather the parties shall offer specific provisions of such articles or publications and, if

an objection is raised, the parties shall be prepared to argue the admissibility of those specific

provisions at the time the article or publication is offered. By way of example only, it is unclear

to the Court at this time how the state of the prior art is relevant to what is at issue in this case,

namely whether Dr. White conceived of or reduced to practice the overlapping GAD-graft

device1 while at L.A. Biomed. However, the Court shall hear L.A. Biomed on this point at trial. 

If the objection is resolved against L.A. Biomed, the time spent resolving the objection shall be

counted against L.A. Biomed’s trial time. 

2. Redactions: In general, the Court prefers that exhibits be admitted without

redaction. If the parties are in agreement about which portions of a particular exhibit should be

redacted, a redacted exhibit may be admitted. If the parties do not agree about redactions, the

Court hereby advises that it shall place the burden on the party offering the redaction to show

why the redaction is necessary. In general, merely arguing that the material proposed to be

redacted is irrelevant will not suffice to warrant a redaction. Rather, the redacted material

should be material that would be overly prejudicial to that party.

3. L.A. Biomed’s Patent and Copyright Policy: As to the 1984 version of that

policy, at trial L.A. Biomed must be prepared to argue why it is relevant to these proceedings as

it predates the time period in question. The Court further orders that the 1991 Policy shall be

admitted without redaction.

4. Slides and Operation Records: The slides and operation records offered by Dr.

White shall be admitted subject to Dr. White laying a proper foundation for the authentication of

these slides and operation records at trial. If authentication objections are raised at trial, time

spent resolving those objections shall count against the party raising them.

5. Financial Interest Evidence: Pursuant to the Court’s ruling at the pretrial

conference, evidence of financial interest is excluded. (See Tr. 2/13/06 at 40:20-41:22.) 

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6. Discovery Responses: Pursuant to this Court’s Guidelines for Civil Jury Trials,

the parties are directed to “designate responses to requests for admissions and interrogatory

answers in the same manner and under the same timetable as deposition designations,” and to

make those designations 5 court days before they are used. In light of the fact that the areas of

agreement between the parties are few and far between, the Court ORDERS that these

designations shall be made by March 10, 2006. The Court shall not permit wholesale

introduction of discovery responses, and the parties shall be expected to proffer only specific

portions of a particular discovery response at trial. The Court will not, however, rule on specific

portions of the interrogatories prior to trial. Rather, the Court shall address objections as they

arise at trial. As with other objections, if a party raises an objection at trial, time spent resolving

the objection shall be counted against that party regardless of the outcome.

5. Pleadings or Briefs: Any pleading or brief filed in this case shall not be

admitted. Accordingly, Dr. White’s objections to Exhibits 253, 254, 255 and 256 are sustained.

6. Declarations and Exhibits Attached Thereto: If a party or witness in the case

has filed a declaration, the declaration shall not excluded merely because it was filed in support

of or opposition to a pleading or brief. However, any party offering a declaration as evidence

must demonstrate it is otherwise admissible. Exhibits to declarations shall not be excluded or

admitted merely because they were filed with the declaration. Rather, a party intending to offer

an exhibit attached to a declaration must demonstrate the exhibit is otherwise admissible. 

Again, if a party objects to the admission of a declaration or an exhibit attached thereto, time

spent resolving the objection shall be counted against that party regardless of the outcome.

7. Animal Testing: The Court has ruled that evidence of animal testing shall not be

admitted as evidence of reduction to practice. Accordingly, evidence of animal testing shall not

be admitted for this purpose. However, if Dr. White intends to rely on evidence of animal

testing to show he reduced to practice an “overlapping GAD-graft device” at a location other

than L.A. Biomed, the Court will revisit this ruling. To the extent animal testing at L.A.

Biomed may be used as evidence to show that Dr. White conceived of the “overlapping GADgraft device” at L.A. Biomed, the Court reverses the ruling it made during the pretrial

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conference, and evidence of animal testing may be admitted to show conception. Further, to the

extent evidence regarding animal testing is offered to issues other than reduction to practice or

conception, the Court will address that issue at trial and, time spent resolving objections to the

evidence shall be counted against the party raising the objection regardless of the outcome.

8. L.A. Biomed Letters Seeking Assignment: Dr. White’s objections to Exhibits

8, 59 and 59 are sustained. In no event shall these Exhibits be presented to the jury. However,

if Dr. White’s affirmative defenses raise equitable matters for the Court to decide and these

Exhibits become relevant to those issues, the Court will revisit this ruling. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 6, 2006 

JEFFREY S. WHITE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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