Leave The Baggage Behind: Deciding How Much Party Background Is Admissible

Order on Motions in Limine, Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc., Case No. 13-cv-03999 (Judge Beth Freeman)

Litigators know that, at trial, what you're not allowed to say can sometimes be just as important as what you say. In a recent order, Judge Freeman made some calls about what's in and what's out at the upcoming trial between NPE Finjan and network security company Blue Coat Systems. In particular, there were parts of the parties' backgrounds that each side liked and didn't like. Blue Coat, in particular, wanted to present Finjan's history of enforcing and licensing patents to the jury, doubtlessly motivated to take advantage of strong feelings concerning NPEs. While Judge Freeman tended to err on the side of letting things in, she also excluded certain topics and required limiting instructions for others.