Exxon Research & Engineering Co. v. United States

OPINION

DAMICH, Judge.

Markman v. Westview Instruments, 52 F.3d 967 (Fed.Cir.1995) (en banc), aff'd, 517 U.S. 370, 116 S.Ct. 1384, 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996), established that the construction of the terms in a patent is an issue of law for the court to decide. In the wake of Mark-man, many procedural questions have arisen, which the trial courts and appellate courts are attempting to resolve. This case presents the question of how the parties may conduct discovery with respect to claim construction issues. In the factual circumstances of this case, the Court has determined that a Rule 30(b)(6)…