Opinion ID: 220600
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Exclusion of RTI's Discovery Responses and Letter to the District Court

Text: BD also appeals the district court's denial of BD's motion for a new trial on infringement based on the district court's exclusion from evidence of RTI's discovery responses and letter to the district court. BD argues that the district court abused its discretion by erroneously applying the balancing test in Federal Rule of Evidence 403. BD asserts that the exclusion of these documents affected its substantial rights because the documents would have exposed RTI's contradictory infringement positions and constituted evidence that BD could have used to impeach RTI's expert at trial. We disagree. The district court, in granting BD's motion in limine, excluded from evidence references to RTI's prior patent litigation pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 403, 404, and 408. Motion in Limine Order, at 3. Subsequently, the district court assessed RTI's discovery responses and concluded that allowing BD to introduce the document would inevitably raise the previously-excluded issue of RTI's prior litigation. Motion to Strike Order, at 7. This conclusion was not arbitrary or clearly erroneous because RTI's statements were in response to BD's request that RTI produce documents related to RTI's prior litigation against a third party. Thus, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding RTI's discovery responses and RTI's letter to the district court regarding those responses. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's denial of BD's motion for a new trial on the issue of infringement.