United States District Court

EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

SHERMAN DIVISION

WAPP TECH LIMITED PARTNERSHIP 

and WAPP TECH CORP., 

 Plaintiffs, 

v. 

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., 

 Defendant.

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Civil Action No. 4:23-CV-01137 

Judge Mazzant

PATENT SCHEDULING ORDER

The Court, after reviewing the case management report required by Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 26(f) and conferring with the parties either by e-mail or scheduling conference, enters 

this case-specific order which controls disposition of this action pending further order of the Court. 

The following actions shall be completed by the date indicated.1

May 17, 2024 P.R. 3-1 Disclosure of Asserted Claims and Infringement 

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

served.

June 11, 2024 Deadline to add parties.

June 11, 2024 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. 

June 21, 2024 Parties to disclose whether they believe claim construction 

experts are needed.

June 21, 2024 Parties to exchange proposed terms for construction and 

identify any claim element governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 6 

(P.R. 4-1).

June 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).

1 If a deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday as defined in Fed. R. Civ. P. 6, the effective date is the 

first federal court business day following the deadline imposed.

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July 11, 2024 Parties to exchange preliminary proposed claim 

construction and extrinsic evidence supporting same (P.R. 

4-2).

August 6, 2024 Parties’ final amended pleadings.

(A motion for leave to amend is required.)

August 9, 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.

August 27, 2024 Response to amended pleadings.

September 9, 2024 Completion date for discovery on claim construction (P.R. 

4-4).

Plaintiffs shall serve a Preliminary Election of Asserted 

Claims, which shall assert no more than ten claims from 

each patent and not more than a total of 32 claims.

September 23, 2024 Defendant shall serve a Preliminary Election of Asserted 

Prior Art, which shall assert no more than twelve prior art 

references against each patent and not more than a total of 

40 references.

September 24, 2024 Opening claim construction brief (P.R.4-5(a)).

October 11, 2024 Submit technology synopsis (both hard copy and disk).

October 8, 2024 Responsive claim construction brief (P.R. 4-5(b)).

October 15, 2024 Reply claim construction brief (P.R. 4-5(c)).

October 29, 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. 

November 8, 2024 Claim construction hearing at 9:00 am at the Paul Brown 

United States Courthouse, 101 E. Pecan Street, Sherman, 

Texas.

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January 6, 2025 Plaintiffs shall serve a Final Election of Asserted Claims, 

which shall identify no more than five asserted claims per 

patent from among the ten previously identified claims and 

no more than a total of 16 claims. 

January 17, 2025 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 

that Patent Rules, nor an excuse to delay disclosure of 

information. It is a catchall deadline for provision of all 

remaining information that may be relevant to a claim or 

defense of any party at trial.

January 17, 2025 Fact Discovery deadline. All fact discovery must be served 

in time to be completed by this date.

January 31, 2025 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(2)(B).

Objections to any expert, including Daubert motions, shall 

be filed within 3 weeks of the Expert Report disclosure. 

Such objections and motions are limited to ten pages.

January 31, 2025 Comply with P.R. 3-7 on designation of willfulness opinions.

January 31, 2025 Defendant shall serve a Final Election of Asserted Prior Art, 

which shall identify no more than six asserted prior art 

references per patent from among the twelve prior art 

references previously identified for that particular patent 

and no more than a total of 20 references. For purposes of 

this Final Election of Asserted Prior Art, each obviousness 

combination counts as a separate prior art reference.

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February 28, 2025 Parties 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).

Objections to any expert, including Daubert motions, shall 

be filed within 3 weeks of the Expert Report disclosure. 

Such objections and motions are limited to ten pages.

March 14, 2025 Expert Discovery deadline. All expert discovery must be 

served in time to be completed by this date. 

March 14, 2025 Deadline to 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 Rules CV-7.

Responses to motions shall be due in accordance with Local 

Rule CV-7(e).

30 days after entry of the claim 

construction order 

Mediation deadline.

April 30, 2025 The parties will meet and confer to discuss further

reducing the number of asserted claims and prior art 

references.

June 27, 2025 Notice of intent to offer certified records.

June 27, 2025 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)).

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July 2, 2025 Deposition Designations 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 requesting cross 

examination line and page numbers to be included. 

Counsel must consult on any objections and only those 

that cannot be resolved shall be presented to the court. 

The party who served the initial Video Deposition 

Designation is responsible for preparation of the final 

edited video in accordance with all parties’ designations 

and the court’s rulings on objections.

July 2, 2025 Motions in limine due.

File Joint Final Pretrial Order (See www.txed.uscourts.gov). 

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.

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.

July 18, 2025 Responses to motions in limine due.

File objections to witnesses, depositions 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 

docket call.

File Proposed Jury Instructions and Form of Verdict (or 

Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law).

August 1, 2025 Final Pretrial Conference at 9:00 a.m. at the Paul Brown 

United States Courthouse located at 101 East Pecan Street 

in Sherman, Texas. 

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TBD Jury selection and trial at 10:00 a.m. at the Paul Brown 

United States Courthouse located at 101 East Pecan Street 

in Sherman, Texas. 

The Court’s modifications to P.R. 3-1 and P.R. 3-3 are set out below:

P.R. 3-1(g): If a party claiming patent infringement asserts that a claim element is a 

software limitation, the party needs only to identify the elements as a software limitation in 

its initial compliance with P.R. 3-1, but does not need to identify where such limitation is 

met in the Accused Instrumentality. At the latest, the party opposing a claim of patent 

infringement shall produce source code within 30 days of the initial P.R. 3-1 disclosures. 

After receipt of the source code for the Accused Instrumentality, the party is permitted 60 

days to supplement P.R. 3-1 disclosure to identify, with specificity, the source code of the 

Accused Instrumentality that allegedly satisfies the software claim elements. The party 

claiming patent infringement shall identify, on an element-by-element basis for each 

asserted claim, what source code of each Accused Instrumentality allegedly satisfies the 

software limitations of the asserted claim elements. Any such agreements shall be 

submitted to the court in camera. This is not an invitation for the party opposing a claim of 

patent infringement to delay in producing source code. P.R. 3-1(g) does not allow Plaintiff 

the opportunity to modify or amend any non-software claim contentions.

Defendants are reminded that they have the obligation to produce source code possessed 

by third parties, if they have the right of control over this code. See Sensormatic Elecs. Corp. 

v. WG Sec. Prods., Inc., 2006 WL 5111116, at *1 (E.D. Tex. Feb. 9, 2006). Within seven

days after Plaintiff identifies any elements as software limitations in initial compliance with

P.R. 3-1, Defendants shall produce the source code is within their possession, custody, and

control. To the extent that source code is not within a particular Defendant’s possession,

custody, and control, that Defendant shall notify Plaintiff and file with the court

declarations and/or affidavits from its representative(s) and counsel attesting to the scope

of the search and documents and source code produced in compliance with this Order.

These declarations and/or affidavits shall also state with particularity all efforts made to

acquire documents and source code from any company affiliated with or having a

relationship with that Defendant to manufacture or distribute any accused product. That

Defendant also must turn overall documents relevant to its corporate relationship with

these companies. Upon receipt of such notification, Plaintiff shall immediately begin the

subpoena process to obtain the source code at issue. If, upon a showing that the above

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requirements have been fulfilled and source code still cannot be obtained from a third party 

before a deadline, the court may entertain a request for extension of that deadline. 

P.R. 3-3(e): If a party claiming patent infringement exercises the provisions of P.R. 3-

1(g), the party opposing a claim of patent infringement may serve, not later than 30 days 

after receipt of a P.R. 3-1(g) disclosure, supplemental “Invalidity Contentions” that amend 

only those claim elements identified as software limitations by the party claiming patent 

infringement. 

SCOPE OF DISCOVERY

Modification. Taking into account the needs of the case, the amount in controversy, the 

parties’ resources, the importance of the issues at stake in the litigation, and the importance of the 

proposed discovery in resolving the issues, the Court modifies the parameters of discovery in the 

following respects. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2).

Disclosure. The parties are reminded of the requirement, set out in this court’s Initial 

Order Governing Proceedings, to have already disclosed, without awaiting a discovery request, 

information in addition to that required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, including names of persons likely to 

have, and documents containing, information “relevant to the claim or defense of any party.” 

If there are any questions about whether information is “relevant to the claim or defense of 

any party” review Local Rule CV-26(d). A party that fails to timely disclose any of the information 

required to be disclosed by order of this court or by the Federal Rules of Procedure, will not, unless 

such failure is harmless, be permitted to use such evidence at trial, hearing or in support of a 

motion. 

Electronic Discovery. The parties shall produce information in searchable TIFF format, 

unless the parties agree otherwise. 

Source Code Preservation. Defendants shall maintain full and complete copies of all 

previous iterations of source code.

The parties are excused from the pretrial disclosure requirements set forth in Federal Rule 

of Civil Procedure 26(a)(3) as such disclosure is cumulative of this Court’s pre-trial order 

procedures. 

DISCOVERY DISPUTES

In the event the parties encounter a discovery dispute, no motions to compel may be filed 

until after the parties fulfill the “meet and confer” requirement imposed by this Court’s Local 

Rule CV-7(h). If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute without court intervention, the 

parties must then call the Court’s chambers to schedule a telephone conference regarding the 

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subject matter of the dispute prior to filing any motion to compel. After reviewing the dispute, the 

Court will resolve the dispute, order the parties to file an appropriate motion, or direct the parties 

to call the discovery hotline.

A magistrate judge is available during business hours to immediately hear discovery 

disputes and to enforce provisions of the rules. The hotline number is (903) 590-1198. See Local 

Rule CV-26(e).

COMPLIANCE

A party is not excused from the requirements of this scheduling order by virtue of the fact 

that dispositive motions are pending, the party has not completed its investigation, the party 

challenges the sufficiency of the opposing party’s disclosure or because another party has failed to 

comply with this order or the rules. 

Failure to comply with relevant provisions of the Local Rules, the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure or this order may result in the exclusion of evidence at trial, the imposition of sanctions 

by the Court, or both. If a fellow member of the Bar makes a just request for cooperation or seeks 

scheduling accommodation, a lawyer will not arbitrarily or unreasonably withhold consent. 

However, the Court is not bound to accept agreements of counsel to extend deadlines imposed by 

rule or court order. See Local Rule AT-3(j).

TRIAL

The deadlines for pre-trial matters, such as exchanging exhibits, and objections, are 

intended to reduce the need for trial objections, side-bar conferences, and repetitive presentation 

of evidentiary predicates for clearly admissible evidence. Counsel should be familiar with the 

evidence display system available in the courtroom. Copies of exhibits which will be handed to 

witnesses should be placed in a three-ring binder, with an additional copy for the court. (To make 

it easy to direct the witness to the correct exhibit while on the stand, Plaintiff should use a dark 

colored binder such as black or dark blue. Defendant should use a light-colored binder such as 

white, red, or light blue.) Alternatively, if exhibits have been scanned and will be presented via a 

computer projection system, be sure there is a way for the court to view or read them separately so 

as to be able to understand motions and objections.

Counsel are responsible for informing their clients and witnesses about courtroom dress 

requirements and protocol, such as silencing pagers and phones, and not chewing gum, reading 

newspapers, or eating. 

OTHER MATTERS

1. Please note the amendments to the Local Rules regarding motion practice. If a document 

filed electronically exceeds ten pages in length, including attachments, a paper copy of the 

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filed document must be sent contemporaneously to the undersigned’s chambers in 

Sherman. See Local Rule CV-5(a)(9). Courtesy copies over twenty pages long should be 

bound to the left. 

2. Any reply or sur-reply must be filed in accordance with Local Rule CV-6 and Local Rule 

CV-7(f). The parties are reminded that “[t]he court need not wait for the reply or surreply before ruling on the motion.” Local Rule CV-7(f) (emphasis added).

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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