Source code testimony practice
Source Code Expert Witness for Federal Patent and Trade Secret Matters
Party-retained analysis and testimony on source code for federal patent infringement, Markman claim construction, DTSA trade-secret misappropriation and ITC 337 proceedings, under protective-order-compliant review.
The engagement
A source-code opinion the tribunal can trace to specific files and lines
Federal source-code reviews often take place under a protective order with court-specific limits on the review environment, notes, printouts and retention. The Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of California, District of Delaware and International Trade Commission use different orders and procedures. The examination follows the order entered in the matter and ties each opinion to a specific file path, function and line range.
The substantive work covers patent infringement and non-infringement analysis under 35 U.S.C. section 271, Markman claim-construction declarations, invalidity analysis under 102 and 103, DTSA trade-secret misappropriation analysis, copyright infringement in software structure and sequence, and open source license compliance under GPL, AGPL, LGPL, MPL and Apache families. Findings are anchored to specific source lines, specific commit history and specific build artifacts.
The technical work may support plaintiff or defendant counsel. Potential work product includes source-grounded claim charts, comparisons of asserted trade secrets to accused code, non-infringement analysis using counsel-provided claim constructions, independent-development timelines from version control and review of opposing expert charts.
Scope
Patent infringement and non-infringement source review
Element-by-element analysis of accused source code against asserted claims, both literal and doctrine-of-equivalents. Claim charts anchored to specific files, functions and line ranges, with build-artifact reconciliation where the record allows.
Markman claim construction on software terms
Written declarations on the person of ordinary skill in the art, the technical background of the accused technology, and the meaning of disputed claim terms in light of the specification, the file history and the state of the art at the priority date.
DTSA trade-secret misappropriation analysis
Independent review of alleged trade-secret source code against the accused product's source, focused on what actually appears in both and what does not. Timeline analysis from version control on both sides where the record supports it.
Software copyright and structure-sequence-organization
Analysis of software copyright claims, abstraction-filtration-comparison work where the record supports it, and specific comparisons of protected expression against alleged copied code.
Open source license compliance
Written analysis of GPL, AGPL, LGPL, MPL, EPL, Apache and MIT license compliance for accused distributions. SBOM comparison, license-header review and derivative-work analysis anchored to specific source and build artifacts.
ITC 337 proceedings
Source-code review for ITC 337 proceedings, including infringement, domestic-industry technical prong and design-around analysis on tight ITC schedules. Coordinated production and review across parallel district-court matters where they exist.
Rebuttal, cross-examination and Daubert support
Rebuttal declarations on opposing source-code expert reports, cross-examination question sets for engineers and opposing experts, and Daubert motion declarations on source-code methodology.
Methodology
How the source-code expert engagement runs
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Retention and protective-order intake
Retention letter, source-code review conflict check and intake of the protective order that governs the matter. The engagement is not accepted where a bar under the protective order applies.
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Review-room examination
Examination on the producing party's stand-alone review machine, with marked printouts, secure custody of printouts and workpapers written in the review room. Every material finding is traced to a specific file path, function and line range.
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Report drafting
A written expert report tying every opinion to specific source evidence, with claim charts, timelines and build-artifact reconciliation where the record supports it. Every opinion is stated so a rebuttal examiner can locate the underlying source.
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Deposition, hearing and trial testimony
Preparation, deposition, hearing or trial testimony bounded by the report, and post-trial handling of printouts and workpapers in accordance with the protective order.
Evidence commonly examined
Evidence reviewed
- Produced source code on the review machine under the protective order
- Version-control history and commit metadata where produced
- Build scripts, dependency manifests and SBOMs
- Design documentation, engineering notes and issue-tracker exports
- Asserted patents, file histories, prior-art references and expert-supplied constructions
- Opposing expert reports, workpapers and claim charts
- Local rules, protective order and any source-code review protocol
What you can expect
What you receive
- Expert report with per-claim-element analysis tied to file, function and line
- Claim charts anchored to specific source and build-artifact evidence
- Independent-development or copying-timeline appendix from version control
- Rebuttal declaration on opposing source-code expert reports
- Deposition and trial testimony bounded by the report
- Post-review handling of printouts under the protective order
Frequently asked
Common questions
Can you accept matters in E.D. Texas, N.D. California and D. Delaware?
Yes. The practice regularly works across those districts. The entered order controls the review environment, access, notes, printouts, report citations and post-matter handling, and each retention runs a district-specific conflict check.
Do you take ITC 337 source-code work with the tight schedule ITC proceedings have?
Yes. ITC 337 source-code work is a routine assignment. Acceptance still depends on the expert's qualifications, conflicts, access and schedule, and the retention states the deliverables that can be completed and defended within the procedural schedule.
How is independent development established from version control?
Independent-development analysis reviews commit history, authorship metadata and code lineage in the accused party's version control. Where the record supports it, the analysis reconstructs a timeline that shows when features appeared, who authored them and how they related to the trade-secret plaintiff's material.
Do you produce Markman declarations, or only infringement reports?
Both. Markman claim-construction declarations, infringement reports, invalidity reports and rebuttal reports are all part of the practice.
How are printouts and workpapers handled after trial?
Under the protective order. The report ends with a printout inventory and a handling plan that matches the protective order's return, destruction or archival requirements.
Related capabilities
Related services
Talk with an examiner
Discuss the matter and the next step.
Call to discuss timing, scope and the safest way to share information. Do not send evidence or credentials by email.
24/7 hotline: 1-800-868-8189