S.D. Tex. P. R. 4-2 — Exchange of Preliminary Claim Constructions and Extrinsic Evidence

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

S.D. Tex. P. R. 4-2 — Exchange of Preliminary Claim Constructions and Extrinsic Evidence: 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) By the deadline set in the Scheduling Order, the parties must simultaneously exchange a proposed “Preliminary Claim Construction” of each element of each claim term, phrase, or clause in issue. Each “Preliminary Claim Construction” must also identify the structures, acts, or materials corresponding to each claim element governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112(f). (b) At the same time the parties exchange their respective “Preliminary Claim Constructions,” they must also exchange a preliminary identification of extrinsic evidence they contend supports their respective claim constructions, such as dictionary definitions, citations to learned treatises and prior art, and testimony of fact and expert witnesses. The parties must identify each item of extrinsic evidence by production number or produce a copy of any such item not previously produced. With respect to each fact or expert witness a party intends to rely on for claim construction, the party must also provide a brief description of the substance of that witness’s proposed testimony. (c) The parties must then meet and confer for the purposes of narrowing the issues and finalizing preparation of a Joint Claim Construction and Prehearing Statement.

Source of truth

(a) By the deadline set in the Scheduling Order, the parties must simultaneously exchange a proposed “Preliminary Claim Construction” of each element of each claim term, phrase, or clause in issue. Each “Preliminary Claim Construction” must also identify the structures, acts, or

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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