Clearvalue, Inc. v. Pearl River Polymers, Inc., 560 F.3d 1291 (Fed. Cir. 2009)

Key Insight: In an opinion providing an extensive discussion of the court?s authority to sanction pursuant to Rule 37 and its inherent authority, the appellate court confirmed the trial court?s imposition of monetary sanctions finding that appellant-plaintiffs acted in bad faith by failing to produce relevant test results as evidenced by the content of several emails produced for the sanctions hearing (and other evidence) but overturned the trial court?s sanction of striking plaintiff?s claims pursuant to its inherent authority upon finding that plaintiffs? discovery abuses were not sufficiently egregious to warrant such sanctions; appellate court also found trial court?s reliance on inherent authority to strike plaintiffs? pleadings was misplaced in light of the applicability of Rule 37

Nature of Case: Patent Infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets

Electronic Data Involved: Test results