Blaine M. Hackman
Blaine M. Hackman
Frommer Lawrence & Haug LLP
Spoliation refers to the destruction or material
alteration of evidence, or a party’s failure to preserve
evidence related to a reasonably foreseeable litigation.
Recent high-profile patent cases have been affected
by alleged spoliation, including Hynix v. Rambus,
Micron v. Rambus, and Samsung v. Apple. Spoliation
sanctions can be severe enough to change a
litigation’s outcome. Therefore, it is crucial that businesses
engaged in patenting and licensing technologies
understand spoliation law and take steps to preserve
documents that may relate to patent litigation. This
article reviews the standards for foreseeability relating
to patent litigation, how different circuits determine
whether to impose spoliation sanctions, and recent
examples of spoliation sanctions in patent litigation.
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