S.D. Tex. P. R. 1-2 — Scope and Construction: the court's own rule, verbatim from RULES OF PRACTICE FOR PATENT CASES IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS ((Amended April 18, 2022)), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every case before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas alongside the federal rules and any judge-specific procedures.
(a) These Patent Rules apply to all civil actions filed in or transferred to the Southern District of Texas that allege claims for patent infringement in a complaint, counterclaim, cross-claim or third-party claim, or seek a declaratory judgment that a patent is not infringed, is invalid, or is unenforceable (a “patent claim”). (b) The presiding judge may accelerate, extend, eliminate, or modify the obligations or deadlines established in these Patent Rules based on the circumstances of a particular case, including, without limitation, its complexity or the number of patents, claims, products, or parties involved. (c) If any motion filed before the Claim Construction Hearing (see P.R. 4-6) raises claim construction issues, the presiding judge may, for good cause, defer the motion until after the parties’ disclosures or filings for the Claim Construction Hearing. (d) The Local Civil Rules of the Southern District of Texas apply to patent cases except to the extent that the Local Civil Rules are inconsistent with these Patent Rules.
(a) These Patent Rules apply to all civil actions filed in or transferred to the Southern District of Texas that allege claims for patent infringement in a complaint, counterclaim, cross-claim or third-party claim, or seek a declaratory judgment that a patent is not infringed, is