Rampart IC, LLC v. Egg Medical, Inc., 1:24-cv-00643

Rampart IC, LLC holds the exclusive rights to U.S. Patent No. 11,660,056, related to a radiation shielding system issued in May 2023.
Rampart sued Egg Medical, Inc., alleging its "EggNest Complete" product infringes the ‘056 Patent.
Egg Medical requested ex parte reexamination of the patent and moved to stay the litigation pending the outcome.
The USPTO issued a non-final office action rejecting all 30 patent claims; Rampart responded with proposed amendments to all claims.
At the time of the motion, discovery was in its infancy: no scheduling order, claim construction, or trial date were set.
The court must decide whether to stay proceedings pending the reexamination outcome.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether stay will simplify trial issues	Reexam will not simplify; few claims cancelled	All claims were rejected, likely simplifying or mooting the case	Stay likely to simplify or moot issues
Status of litigation and timing	Minimal burden to continue case	Litigation is at very early stage; resources may be wasted	Early stage favors a stay
Prejudice or tactical advantage	Delay prejudices Rampart, especially as competitors	No product sold yet; no undue prejudice	No undue prejudice or tactical advantage
Delay due to reexamination proceedings	Reexam could take years, causing harm	Delay alone is insufficient; stay is timely	Potential delay not sufficient to deny stay

Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009) (court has discretion to grant a stay and party seeking stay bears the burden)
Procter & Gamble Co. v. Kraft Foods Glob., Inc., 549 F.3d 842 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (recognizing inherent power to grant stay pending patent reexamination)
Commonwealth Ins. Co. v. Underwriters, Inc., 846 F.2d 196 (3d Cir. 1988) (upholding district court's authority to stay litigation)