UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

MARSHALL DIVISION

CROGA INNOVATIONS LTD.,

v.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES

CORPORATION,

Case No. 2:23-cv-00634-JRG

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

FIRST AMENDED DOCKET CONTROL ORDER

In accordance with the scheduling conference held in this case, it is hereby ORDERED that 

the following schedule of deadlines is in effect until further order of this Court:

Original Date Amended Date Event

September 22,

2025

*Jury Selection - 9:00 a.m. in Marshall, Texas

7 days before

Jury Selection

*Defendant to disclose final invalidity

theories, final prior art 

references/combinations, and final equitable 

defenses.1

10 days before

Jury Selection

*Plaintiff to disclose final election of Asserted 

Claims.2

August 25,

2025

* If a juror questionnaire is to be used, an editable

(in Microsoft Word format) questionnaire shall be

jointly submitted to the Deputy Clerk in Charge 

by this date.3

1 The proposed DCO shall include this specific deadline. The deadline shall read, "7 days before Jury 

Selection," and shall not include a specific date.

2 Given the Court's past experiences with litigants dropping claims and defenses during or on the eve

of trial, the Court is of the opinion that these additional deadlines are necessary. The proposed DCO

shall include this specific deadline. The deadline shall read, "10 days before Jury Selection," and shall 

not include a specific date.

3 The Parties are referred to the Court's Standing Order Regarding Use of Juror Questionnaires in 

Advance of Voir Dire.

Case 2:23-cv-00634-JRG Document 21-1 Filed 04/15/24 Page 1 of 7 PageID #: 238
August 18,

2025

*Pretrial Conference - 9:00 a.m. in Marshall, 

Texas before Judge Rodney Gilstrap

August 11,

2025

*Notify Court of Agreements Reached During Meet

and Confer

The parties are ordered to meet and confer on any 

outstanding objections or motions in limine. The

parties shall advise the Court of any agreements 

reached no later than 1:00 p.m. three (3) business 

days before the pretrial conference.

August 11,

2025

*File Joint Pretrial Order, Joint Proposed Jury 

Instructions, Joint Proposed Verdict Form, 

Responses to Motions in Limine, Updated Exhibit 

Lists, Updated Witness Lists, and Updated 

Deposition Designations

August 4, 2025 *File Notice of Request for Daily Transcript or Real

Time Reporting.

If a daily transcript or real time reporting of court 

proceedings is requested for trial, the party or

parties making said request shall file a notice with 

the Court and e-mail the Court Reporter, Shawn 

McRoberts, at 

shawn_mcroberts@txed.uscourts.gov.

July 28, 2025 File Motions in Limine

The parties shall limit their motions in limine to 

issues that if improperly introduced at trial would 

be so prejudicial that the Court could not alleviate

the prejudice by giving appropriate instructions to 

the jury.

July 28, 2025 Serve Objections to Rebuttal Pretrial Disclosures

July 21, 2025 Serve Objections to Pretrial Disclosures; and Serve

Rebuttal Pretrial Disclosures

July 7, 2025 Serve Pretrial Disclosures (Witness List, 

Deposition Designations, and Exhibit List) by the 

Party with the Burden of Proof

Case 2:23-cv-00634-JRG Document 21-1 Filed 04/15/24 Page 2 of 7 PageID #: 239
June 30, 2025 *Response to Dispositive Motions (including 

Daubert Motions). 

Responses to dispositive motions that were filed 

prior to the dispositive motion deadline, including

Daubert Motions,shall be due in accordance with 

Local Rule CV-7(e), not to exceed the deadline as 

set forth in this Docket Control Order.4 Motions 

for Summary Judgment shall comply with Local 

Rule CV-56.

June 16, 2025

*File Motions to Strike Expert Testimony

(including Daubert Motions)

No motion to strike expert testimony (including a 

Daubert motion) may be filed after this date 

without leave of the Court.

June 16, 2025 *File Dispositive Motions

No dispositive motion may be filed after this date 

without leave of the Court. 5

Motions shall comply with Local Rule CV-56 and 

Local Rule CV-7. Motions to extend page limits 

will only be granted in exceptional 

circumstances. Exceptional circumstances 

require more than agreement among the parties.

June 9, 2025 Deadline to Complete Expert Discovery

May 27, 2025 Serve Disclosures for Rebuttal Expert Witnesses

April 25, 2025 Deadline to Complete Fact Discovery and File 

Motions to Compel Discovery

May 5, 2025 Serve Disclosures for Expert Witnesses by the

Party with the Burden of Proof

4 The parties are directed to Local Rule CV-7(d), which provides in part that "[a] party's failure

to oppose a motion in the manner prescribed herein creates a presumption that the party does 

not controvert the facts set out by movant and has no evidence to offer in opposition to the 

motion."

5 If the deadline under Local Rule CV 7(e) exceeds the deadline for Response to Dispositive Motions, 

the deadline for Response to Dispositive Motion controls.

Case 2:23-cv-00634-JRG Document 21-1 Filed 04/15/24 Page 3 of 7 PageID #: 240
April 1, 2025 Comply with P.R. 3-7 (Opinion of Counsel

Defenses)

March 11,

2025

*Claim Construction Hearing-9:00 a.m. in

Marshall, Texas before Judge Rodney Gilstrap

February 25,

2025

*Comply with P.R. 4-5(d) (Joint Claim

Construction Chart)

February 18,

2025

*Comply with P.R. 4-5(c) (Reply Claim

Construction Brief)

February 11,

2025

Comply with P.R. 4-5(b) (Responsive Claim

Construction Brief)

January 28,

2025

Comply with P.R. 4-5(a) (Opening Claim 

Construction Brief) and Submit Technical 

Tutorials (if any)

Good cause must be shown to submit technical

tutorials after the deadline to comply with P.R. 

4-5(a).

January 28,

2025

Deadline to Substantially Complete Document 

Production and Exchange Privilege Logs

Counsel are expected to make good faith efforts to 

produce all required documents as soon as they are 

available and not wait until the substantial 

completion deadline.

January 14,

2025

Comply with P.R. 4-4 (Deadline to Complete

Claim Construction Discovery)

January 7, 2025 File Response to Amended Pleadings

December 24,

2024

*File Amended Pleadings

It is not necessary to seek leave of Court to amend 

pleadings prior to this deadline unless the

amendmentseeksto assert additional patents.

December 17,

2024

Comply with P.R. 4-3 (Joint Claim Construction

Statement)

November 26,

2024

Comply with P.R. 4-2 (Exchange Preliminary Claim

Constructions)

Case 2:23-cv-00634-JRG Document 21-1 Filed 04/15/24 Page 4 of 7 PageID #: 241
November 5,

2024

Comply with P.R. 4-1 (Exchange Proposed Claim

Terms)

May 16, 2024 Comply with Standing Order Regarding SubjectMatter Eligibility Contentions6

May 16, 2024 Comply with P.R. 3-3 & 3-4 (Invalidity

Contentions)

April 15, 2024 April 19, 2024

*File Proposed Protective Order and Comply with

Paragraphs 1 & 3 of the Discovery Order (Initial 

and Additional Disclosures)

The Proposed Protective Order shall be filed as a 

separate motion with the caption indicating whether 

or not the proposed order is opposed in any part.

April 8, 2024 *File Proposed Docket Control Order and Proposed

Discovery Order

The Proposed Docket Control Order and Proposed 

Discovery Order shall be filed as separate motions

with the caption indicating whether or not the 

proposed order is opposed in any part.

April 1, 2024 Join Additional Parties

March 11, 2024 Comply with P.R. 3-1 & 3-2 (Infringement

Contentions)

(*) indicates a deadline that cannot be changed without an acceptable showing of good 

cause. Good cause is not shown merely by indicating that the parties agree that the 

deadline should be changed.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Mediation: While certain cases may benefit from mediation, such may not be appropriate for 

every case. The Court finds that the Parties are best suited to evaluate whether mediation will benefit 

the case after the issuance of the Court's claim construction order. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS 

the Parties to file a Joint Notice indicating whether the case should be referred for mediation within 

6

http://www.txed.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/judgeFiles/EDTX%20Standing%200rder%20 

Re%20Subject%20Matter%20Eligibility%20Contentions%20.pdf [https://perma.cc/RQN2-

YU5P]

Case 2:23-cv-00634-JRG Document 21-1 Filed 04/15/24 Page 5 of 7 PageID #: 242
fourteen days of the issuance of the Court's claim construction order. As a part of such Joint Notice, 

the Parties should indicate whether they have a mutually agreeable mediator for the Court to consider. 

If the Parties disagree about whether mediation is appropriate, the Parties should set forth a brief 

statement of their competing positions in the Joint Notice.

Summary Judgment Motions, Motions to Strike Expert Testimony, and Daubert 

Motions: For each motion, the moving party shall provide the Court with two (2) hard copies of the 

completed briefing (opening motion, response, reply, and if applicable, sur-reply), excluding exhibits, 

in D-three-ring binders, appropriately tabbed. All documents shall be single-sided and must include 

the CM/ECF header. These copies shall be delivered to the Court within three (3) business days after 

briefing has completed. For expert-related motions, complete digital copies of the relevant expert 

report(s) and accompanying exhibits shall be submitted on a single flash drive to the Court. Complete 

digital copies of the expert report(s) shall be delivered to the Court no later than the dispositive motion 

deadline.

Indefiniteness: In lieu of early motions for summary judgment, the parties are directed to 

include any arguments related to the issue of indefiniteness in their Markman briefing, subject to the 

local rules' normal page limits. 

Lead Counsel: The Parties are directed to Local Rule CV-1 l(a)(l), which provides that "[o]n 

the first appearance through counsel, each party shall designate a lead attorney on the pleadings or 

otherwise." Additionally, once designated, a party's lead attorney may only be changed by the filing of 

a Motion to Change Lead Counsel and thereafter obtaining from the Court an Order granting leave to 

designate different lead counsel. The true lead counsel should be designated early and should not 

expect to parachute in as lead once the case has been largely developed.

Motions for Continuance: The following will not warrant a continuance nor justify a failure 

to comply with the discovery deadline:

(a) The fact that there are motions for summary judgment or motions to dismiss pending;

(b) The fact that one or more of the attorneys is set for trial in another court on the same day, unless 

the other setting was made prior to the date of this order or was made as a special provision for 

the parties in the other case;

(c) The failure to complete discovery prior to trial, unless the parties can demonstrate that it was 

impossible to complete discovery despite their good faith effort to do so.

Amendments to the Docket Control Order ("DCO"): Any motion to alter any date on the DCO 

shall take the form of a motion to amend the DCO. The motion to amend the DCO shall include a 

proposed order that lists all of the remaining dates in one column (as above) and the proposed changes 

to each date in an additional adjacent column (if there is no change for a date the proposed date column 

should remain blank or indicate that it is unchanged). In other words, the DCO in the proposed order 

should be complete such that one can clearly see all the remaining deadlines and the changes, if any, 

to those deadlines, rather than needing to also refer to an earlier version of the DCO.

Proposed DCO: The Parties' Proposed DCO should also follow the format described above under 

"Amendments to the Docket Control Order ('DCO')."

Case 2:23-cv-00634-JRG Document 21-1 Filed 04/15/24 Page 6 of 7 PageID #: 243
Joint Pretrial Order: In the contentions of the Parties included in the Joint Pretrial Order, the Plaintiff 

shall specify all allegedly infringed claims that will be asserted at trial. The Plaintiff shall also specify 

the nature of each theory of infringement, including under which subsections of 35 U.S.C. § 271 it 

alleges infringement, and whether the Plaintiff alleges divided infringement or infringement under the 

doctrine of equivalents. Each Defendant shall indicate the nature of each theory of invalidity, including 

invalidity for anticipation, obviousness, subject-matter eligibility, written description, enablement, or 

any other basis for invalidity. The Defendant shall also specify each prior art reference or combination 

of references upon which the Defendant shall rely at trial, with respect to each theory of invalidity. The 

contentions of the Parties may not be amended, supplemented, or dropped without leave of the Court 

based upon a showing of good cause.

Trial: All parties must appear in person at trial. All non-individual (including but not limited to 

corporate) parties must appear at trial through the presence in person of a designated representative. 

Once they have appeared, any representative of a non-individual party shall not be replaced or 

substituted without express leave of Court.

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