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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

SHERMAN DIVISION

FREEDOM PATENTS LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC., 

and SPECTRUM GULF COAST, LLC,

Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:23-cv-301-ALM

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

EXHIBIT A – PROPOSED DEADLINES

Proposed Deadline Description

Wednesday November 22, 

2023

P.R. 3-1 Disclosure of Asserted Claims and Infringement

Contentions (and P.R. 3-2 document production) to be served.

Monday, 

December 18, 2023

Join Additional Parties

To be discussed at Mgmt. 

Conf.

Mediation.

The Court will discuss appointing a mediator at the Scheduling 

Conference.

Monday, 

December 18, 2023

P.R. 3-3 Invalidity Contentions (and P.R. 3-4 document

production) to be served. To extent not already required to be

disclosed, exchange Mandatory Disclosures on all issues,

including damages.

Thursday, 

December 28, 2023

Parties to exchange proposed terms for construction and identify 

any claim element governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 6 (P.R. 4-1).

Wednesday, 

January 17, 2024

Parties to exchange preliminary proposed claim construction and 

extrinsic evidence supporting same (P.R. 4-2).

Friday, 

February 23, 2024

Parties’ Final Amended Pleadings

(A motion for leave is required.)

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Friday, 

February 23, 2024

Joint Claim Construction and Prehearing Statement to be filed 

(P.R. 4-3). Provide an estimate of how many pages are needed

to brief the disputed claims.

Tuesday, 

March 5, 2024

Respond to Amended Pleadings

Sunday, 

March 17, 2024

Completion date for discovery on claim construction (P.R. 4-4).

Monday, 

March 18, 2024

Opening claim construction brief (P.R. 4-5(a)).

Monday, 

March 25, 2024

Privilege Logs to be exchanged by parties

(or a letter to the Court stating that there are no disputes as to

claims of privileged documents).

Tuesday, 

April 9, 2024

Submit technology synopsis/tutorial (both hard copy and disk).

Tuesday, 

April 9, 2024

Responsive claim construction brief (P.R. 4-5(b)).

Monday, 

April 22, 2024

Reply claim construction brief (P.R. 4-5(c)).

Friday, 

April 26, 2024

Parties to file joint claim construction and chart (P.R. 4-5(d)).

Parties shall work together to agree on as many claim terms as

possible.

Monday, 

May 6, 2024

Proposed Claim Construction hearing Monday, May 6, 2024,

at 1:30 p.m. at the Paul Brown United States Courthouse, 101

E. Pecan Street, Sherman, Texas 75090.

Monday, 

June 3, 2024

Comply with P.R. 3-7. (Designation of Willfulness Opinions).

Monday, 

June 17, 2024

Deadline for Initial Mandatory Disclosure of all persons,

documents, data compilations and tangible things, which are 

relevant to a claim or defense of any party and which has not 

previously been disclosed. This deadline is not an extension of 

earlier deadlines set out in this court’s order or the Patent Rules, 

nor an excuse to delay disclosure of information. It is a 

“catchall” deadline for provision of all remaining information 

which may be relevant to a claim or defense of any party at trial.

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Monday, 

July 15, 2024

[[Fact]] Discovery Deadline. All discovery must be served in 

time to be completed by this date.

Monday, 

July 15, 2024

Parties with burden of proof to designate Expert Witnesses other 

than claims construction experts and provide their expert witness 

reports, to include for ALL experts all information set out in 

Rule 26(a)(2)(B).

Monday, 

August 5, 2024

Parties to Designate Expert Witnesses on issues for which the

parties do not bear the burden of proof, and provide their expert

witness report, to include for ALL experts all information set out 

in Rule 26(2)(B).

Note: Objections to any expert, including Daubert motions, 

shall be filed within 3 weeks after the expert’s Report has 

been disclosed. Such objections and motions are limited to 

ten pages each.

Tuesday, 

August 13, 2024

[[Expert]] Discovery Deadline. 

Friday, 

August 16, 2024

File Dispositive Motions and any other motions that may require 

a hearing. Regardless of how many dispositive motions a party 

files, each party is limited to a total of sixty pages for such 

motions. Each individual motion shall comply with Local Rule 

CV-7.

Responses to motions shall be due in accordance with Local 

Rule CV-7(e).

Wednesday, November 27, 

2024

Notice of intent to offer certified records

Wednesday, November 27, 

2024

Counsel and unrepresented parties are each responsible for

contacting opposing counsel and unrepresented parties to

determine how they will prepare the Joint Final Pretrial Order

(See www.txed.uscourts.gov) and Proposed Jury Instructions

and Verdict Form (or Proposed Findings of Fact and

Conclusions of Law in nonjury cases).

Wednesday, December 4, 

2024

Motions in limine due

File Joint Final Pretrial Order. Exchange Exhibits and deliver

copies to the court. At this date, all that is required to be

submitted to the court is a hyperlinked exhibit list on disk (2

copies) and no hard copies

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Friday, 

December 6, 2024

Deposition Designation due. Each party who proposes to offer a 

deposition shall serve on all other parties a disclosure identifying 

the line and page numbers to be offered. All other parties will 

have seven calendar days to serve a response with any 

objections and request cross- examination line and page

numbers to be included. Counsel must consult on any objections, 

and only those which cannot be resolved shall be presented to 

the Court.

The party who filed an initial Video Deposition Designation is

responsible for preparation of the final edited video in

accordance with all parties’ designations, the applicable Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Court’s rulings on objections.

Friday, 

December 20, 2024

Response to motions in limine due

File objections to witnesses, deposition extracts, and exhibits,

listed in pre-trial order. (This does not extend the deadline to

object to expert witnesses). If numerous objections are filed the

court may set a hearing prior to the final pretrial conference. 

File Proposed Jury Instructions/Form of Verdict (or Proposed

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law).

If Parties will be requesting daily copy of the transcript during

trial, they must notify the Court’s court reporter, Chris Bickham, 

Chris_Bickham@txed.uscourts.gov, by this date.

Friday, 

January 3, 2025

Final Pretrial Conference at 1:30 p.m. at the Paul Brown United 

States Courthouse, 101 E. Pecan Street, Sherman, Texas 75090.

TBD 10:00 a.m. Jury Selection and Trial at the Paul Brown United

States Courthouse located at 101 East Pecan Street in Sherman, 

Texas.

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