COMMITTEEON
RULES
OF
PRACTICEAND
PROCEDURE
OF
THE
JUDICIALCONFERENCEOFTHE
UNITED
STATESWASHINGTON D.C.
544
JEFFREYS SUTTONCHAIRSOF
ADVISORYCOMMITTEES
CHAIR
ir MAxuA iSTEVENM
COLLOTON
appellate
ru s
SECRETARY
EUGENE
R.
WEDOFF
BANKRUPTCYRULES
DAVID
G.
CAMPBELL
CIVIL
RULES
REENARAGGI
CRIMINAL
RULES
November
6 2013
SIDNEY
A
FITZWATER
EVIDENCE
RULES
HonorableJohnConyers Jr
RankingMember
CommitteeontheJudiciary
UnitedStatesHouse
of
Representatives
Washington DC20515
DearRepresentativeConyers:
We
write
to
offerthe
initialviev^s
of
the
Judicial
ConferenceRulesCommittees
on
one
aspect
of
H R 3309 theInnovationAct
We
are
the
currentchairs
of
the
Judicial
Conference s
Committee
on
the
Rules
of
Practice
andProcedureandtheAdvisoryCommitteeontheFederalRules
of
CivilProcedure Inthosecapacities wehavereviewedthelegislationandhaveshareditwiththechairs
of
other
conmiittees
ofthe
JudicialConference
thatmay
have
an
interest
inthe
legislation
The
Judicial
Conference
maywish
to
comment
onthe
Innovation
Actinthe
future
and
we
mayhave
a
few
additional
comments
about
the
draftlegislation
inthe
future
For
now
however
we
wish
tooffera
comment
aboutSection
6of
H R
3309
which
itmaybe
useful
tohear
soonerrather
than
later.
Inits
current
form
Section
6
requires
the
JudicialConference
to
developrules
to
implement
the
requirementsdescribed
intheAct
that
are
intended
to
addressasymmetries
in
discoveryburdensandcostsinpatentlitigation Indoingso Section6sets
forth
the
content
of
the
civilrulesthat
the
Judicial
Conference
is
expected
to
developthrough
the
RulesCommittees
We
greatlyappreciate
and
share
the
desire
to
improve
the
civil
justice
system
inour
federalcourts
including
by
reducingabusiveprocedural
tactics
in
patent
litigation
But
legislation
thatmandatesthecontents
of
the
federal
rulescontravenesthelongstandingJudicial
Conference
policy
opposingdirectamendment
of
thefederal
rules
by
legislation
instead
of
