A court in the Eastern district of Virginia has denied a request from Glaxo SmithKline and Tryantafyllos Tafas for discovery in their case against the USPTO.
GSK and Tafos are involved in litigation over the USPTO's implementation of its final rule on claims and continuations.
The rules were originally set to take effect from November 1, 2007, but the office was enjoined from implementing them on October 31, 2007, when Judge James Chacheris ordered a preliminary injunction in response to requests from GSK and Tafos.
But on tuesday the court refused to grant them discovery.
GSK was seeking discovery of certain documents relating to the USPTO's research into possible alternatives to the final rules. The USPTO moved to block all discovery, and the Judge ultimately decided in its favour.
Despite the setback, neither John Desmarais, GSK's lead attorney, nor Steven Moore, Tafas's Attorney thinks the outcome of the hearing will affect their clients ability to win the case while GSK could appeal the decision in the district court.
