Motion To Stay Pending Inter Partes Review Denied Where The Claim Construction Hearing Had Already Occurred

Defendant Omron Oilfield & Marine, Inc. ("Omron") filed a motion to stay pending an Inter Partes Review that it initiated against Plaintiff's National Oilwell Varco, L.P.'s ("NOV") patent-in-suit. The patent-in-suit, U.S. Patent No. 5,474,142 (the '142 patent), is directed to automatic drilling.

As the district court explained, "[o]n May 3, 2013, Omron opened up a second front in its legal battle with NOV, by filing a petition for inter partes review with the United States Patent Office. This review process, a relative novelty, is before a panel of three administrative patent judges, as part of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). 35 U.S. C §§6, 316(c). NOV has three months, from the date of Omron's PTAB petition, to file a response, 37 C.F.R. § 42.107(b), and the PTAB in turn has three months after that to determine whether an inter partes review will proceed, 35 U.S.C. § 314(b). In other words, it will likely be five months before the Court or the parties...