Hysitron Patent Case Will Proceed to Trial
The District Court of Minnesota denied a motion to dismiss in MTS Systems Corp. v. Hysitron Inc., 2007 WL 2159490 (D. Minn. 7/25/07).
MTS filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hysitron. The court issued a pretrial order requiring claim charts Hysitron argued that MTS's claim charts were deficient and moved for dismissal. The motion was based on Rule 11 and the lesser-used Rule 37(b)(2)(C), which provides for dismissal if a party intentionally disobeys a court order to provide or permit discovery. The basis under both rules was that MTS violated the court order by providing deficient claim charts.
The court observed that Rule 37(b)(2)(C) dismissal is only appropriate for serious discovery abuses such as lying and destroying evidence. The court also noted that Hysitron failed to provide its own claim chart, which was also a violation of the order. The motion to dismiss was denied.
