STIPULATION TO EXTEND TIME SET IN 2nd AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER REGARDING PRODUCTION OF PATENT INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, INVALIDITY, AND UNNFORCEABILITY CONTENTIONS

(First Request)1

C.W. HOFFMAN, JR., Magistrate Judge.

Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(a) and Local Rules IA 6-1 and 6-2, Plaintiff Bond Manufacturing Co., Inc. ("Bond") and Defendant Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. ("Ashley") hereby stipulate to a sixty (60) day extension of Bond's deadline to serve initial disclosures related to its patent infringement claims (presently set for February 19, 2019). This is the first request for an extension to the Second Amended Scheduling Order (ECF 50) and is made to allow Ashley to produce and Bond to review supplemental documentation identified during the deposition of Ashley's Controller. Bond did not serve its patent infringement disclosures by the June 14, 2019 because it believed it could not serve them until Ashley produced the supplemental information. Ashley has not suffered any prejudice by the delay and the parties seek to extend that disclosure deadline (among others) herein.

Ashley's production of such additional documentation has been delayed by the withdrawal of Ashley's primary counsel in this matter (ECF 55) and the necessity to have subsequent counsel, who did not attend the deposition of Ashley's controller, review a complex and lengthy deposition record, that was further complicated by the liberal use of recorded computer records, many of which are subject to the protective order entered in this case. Ashley's new counsel sought clarification from Bond's counsel but counsel was largely unavailable during this time. Now that the parties have conferred and Bond has clarified what information it requires, the parties anticipate that Ashley will produce the records at issue by July 22, 2019, afterwhich Bond's expert will assess them. Thereafter, the parties expect to assess possible settlement options before proceeding with the cumbersome and costly process of preparing initial patent disclosures and contentions. Pursuant to the Second Amended Scheduling Order (ECF 50), the parties will contact the new magistrate judge after August 5, 2019 to facilitate the settlement conference.

Accordingly, Bond and Ashley stipulate to amend the Second Scheduling Order (ECF 50) to provide that Bond has until Friday, August 23, 2019 to produce initial disclosures related to its patent infringement claims, that Ashley has until Monday, September 23, 2019, to produce initial disclosures of non-infringement, invalidity, and unenforceability contentions, and that Bond has until Wednesday, October 23, 2019, to produce responses to non-infringement and unenforceability contentions.

IT IS SO ORDERED.