S.D. Tex. P. R. 3-8 — Willfulness

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

S.D. Tex. P. R. 3-8 — Willfulness: 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.

Requirement

(a) If a party opposing a patent infringement claim will rely on an opinion of counsel as part of a defense to a claim of willful infringement, that party must by the date(s) set in the Scheduling Order: (1) produce or make available for inspection and copying each opinion and documents relating to the opinion as to which that party agrees the attorney-client privilege or work-product protection has been waived; and (2) serve a privilege log identifying any other documents, except those authored by counsel acting solely as litigation counsel, relating to the subject matter of the opinion and withheld based on attorney-client privilege or work product protection claims. (b) If a party opposing a patent infringement claim does not comply with the requirements of P.R. 3-8, that party may not rely on an opinion of counsel as part of a defense to willful infringement unless all parties agree or the presiding judge permits the defense based on a good cause showing.

Source of truth

(a) If a party opposing a patent infringement claim will rely on an opinion of counsel as part of a defense to a claim of willful infringement, that party must by the date(s) set in the Scheduling Order: (1) produce or make available for inspection and copying each opinion and do

Official source: S.D. Tex. — Local & Federal Rules (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 4, 2026
Effective date: —
Last verified: September 26, 2026benchpath-appfed-rules-2026-09-25

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