UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 

DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Marine Polymer Technologies, Inc.

v. Civil No. 06-cv-100-JD

HemCon, Inc.

O R D E R

HemCon, Inc. filed a motion to continue the trial, which was

scheduled to begin on March 16, 2010, to accommodate mediation. 

Because of the proximity of the trial date and pretrial

deadlines, the court held a telephone conference on February 3,

2010. 

I. Trial Schedule

After discussing the mediation issue with counsel, the court

determined that a brief continuance of the trial would be granted

to permit mediation. The trial is rescheduled as follows: 

April 14, 2010, jury selection begins at 9:30 a.m.

April 19, 2010, evidence begins at 9:30 a.m.

Counsel anticipate that the trial will take three to five days.

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II. Pretrial Materials and Schedule

The final pretrial conference will be held on April 7, 2010,

at a time that will be set by the court, with notice to counsel. 

In conjunction with filing pretrial materials, counsel are

ordered to undertake certain actions and prepare certain

documents as hereinafter set forth, all of which will be subject

to court review and approval. The court expects counsel to

engage in good faith efforts to agree on these matters, and in

the event that there is disagreement, the court expects those

disagreements to be few in number and narrowly focused. 

A. Counsel shall agree on a glossary of technical terms

that will be referred to during the trial. This glossary should

include both patent law terminology and the basic terminology of

the invention. Copies of the glossary will be provided to each

juror at the outset of the trial. 

B. Counsel shall agree upon charts that set forth the

claims at issue with respect to each patent, along with any

relevant claim construction statements. These charts, which will

be marked as exhibits, shall be of sufficient size so that during

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the trial they can be referred to by counsel and easily read by

the jury. The charts shall also be made available on 8-1/2" x

11" paper for inclusion in juror notebooks. 

C. In lieu of separate requests for jury instructions under

LR 16.2(b)(1), counsel shall agree on preliminary jury

instructions that will be given to the jury both orally and in

writing as an overview of the case. The overview must include an

explanation of the nature of the case, the issues that have been

resolved, and the issues that will be presented to the jury. The

preliminary jury instruction shall be filed as a separate

document.

 

D. Also in lieu of separate requests for final jury

instructions, counsel shall use their best efforts to agree on a

set of jury instructions and on the order in which those

instructions will be given. The court expects counsel to keep

any disagreements to a minimum. With respect to any particular

instruction or part thereof about which there is a disagreement,

counsel shall present plaintiff’s requested version first,

followed immediately by the defendant’s requested version. 

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Instructions shall convey the law in a neutral manner, and

counsel shall not request instructions that are argumentative in

nature. The jury instructions shall be filed as a separate

document.

E. It is likely that this case may require special

interrogatories and/or verdicts. Counsel shall agree on a form

of special interrogatories and/or verdicts to be submitted to the

jury. Counsel are expected to keep their disagreements to a

minimum and in the event there are disagreements, counsel shall

present their alternative proposals - plaintiff’s proposal first,

followed immediately by the defendant’s proposal. The special

interrogatories or verdict form shall be filed as a separate

document.

F. It is important that a clear and concise statement of

the claims be made in order to provide the jury, the court, and

counsel with a “roadmap” of this case. Therefore, in addition to

the brief statement of the case that will be included in the

parties’ final pretrial statements pursuant to LR 16.2(a)(1), the

parties shall each file a written declarative statement (i.e.

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non-argumentative) in outline form, specifying in detail each of

its claims or counterclaims that will be presented at trial. The

written declarative statements shall be filed as separate

documents.

G. In preparing their pretrial statements, counsel are

reminded that Local Rule 16.2(a)(5) requires a party to identify

separately those exhibits which the party expects to offer and

those which the party may offer if the need arises. In compiling

their exhibit lists, counsel should keep in mind that the court

may require them to provide each juror and the court with exhibit

books, and therefore it behooves counsel to focus on those

exhibits that are key to their cases rather than to inundate the

jury and the court with numerous exhibits whose evidentiary value

may be marginal at best.

Conclusion and Deadlines

For the foregoing reasons, the defendant’s motion for a

continuance (doc. no. 173) is granted to the extent that jury

selection is rescheduled to April 14, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., and

evidence shall begin on April 19, 2010, at 9:30 a.m.

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Pretrial materials are due on March 16, 2010, and any

objections, including objections to motions in limine, are due on

March 26, 2010.

Counsel shall file with the court the glossary (paragraph

A), the 8.5 x 11 paper versions of the charts (paragraph B), the

preliminary jury instructions (paragraph C), final jury

instructions (paragraph D), the special interrogatories or

verdict form (paragraph E), and the statements of claims or

counterclaims (paragraph F). The documents required in this

order shall be filed as separate documents and shall be filed at

the time when the final pretrial statements and other LR 16.2

pretrial filings are due, on or before March 16, 2010.

SO ORDERED.

____________________________

Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr.

United States District Judge

February 4, 2010

cc: Julie M. Baher, Esquire

Garet K. Galster, Esquire

Daniel R. Johnson, Esquire

Heather E. Krans, Esquire

Joseph A. Kromholz, Esquire

Lynda Q. Nguyen, Esquire

Brian M. Poissant, Esquire

Daniel D. Ryan, Esquire

Ognian V. Shentov, Esquire

Jonathan M. Shirley, Esquire

Daniel E. Will, Esquire

Leigh S. Willey, Esquire

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