The District Court of the Northern District of Illinois announced on October 1, 2009 a new set of local rules for patent cases.  The new rules include LPR 3.5, which states that “[a]bsent exceptional circumstances, no party may file a motion to stay the lawsuit pending reexamination in the U.S. Patent Office after the due date for service of that party’s Final Contentions.”

Based on the timeframes for deadlines of events leading up to the deadline for a party’s filing of Final Contentions, the time from a party’s Answer to the final deadline for filing a stay request pending reexamination is approximately twenty-five weeks.

More information on Stays Pending Reexamination can be found at:  http://reexamcenter.com/2009/09/stays/.