Court Quashes Subpoena to Depose Patent Expert From Previous Case
The District Court of Nebraska quashed a subpoena to depose an expert witness in Intervet, Inc. v. Merial Limited, 2007 WL 1797643 (D. Neb. 6/20/07).
This case features a long-running patent infringement dispute between Merial Limited and Intervet. The initial case was filed in Georgia but later dismissed on procedural grounds. The current action is in the District of Columbia.
In the Georgia case, Intervet retained Dr. Fernando Osorio as an expert witness. Dr. Osorio never testified, but Intervet did present his declaration at the preliminary injunction stage. In the D.C. action, Intervet has retained another expert whose opinion differs from that offered in Dr. Osorio's declaration.
Because Intervet has not retained Dr. Osorio for the present case, the court concluded it would be unnecessarily time consuming and costly for him to comply with the subpoena. However, the court noted his declaration was a public record that Merial is welcome to use to examine or cross-examine witnesses in the D.C. action.
