LLurker2...You said:

"I did some google searching on pretrial mediation in patent litigation and learned a little bit about Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE)."...

SO NOW WE KNOW YOU CAN DO GOOGLE SEARCHING?!?...

Then you make the following irrelevant LEAP OF FAITH statement to have us beleive there is some connection between what you saw on google on ENE, and this litigation!?...

"Because it is so early in the process, it sounds like Judge Martin may be doing ENE in the Nikon et al case instead of classic mediaton."

You are absolutely wrong in assuming that Judge Martin,(the agreed upon JAMS member who is assigned the mediation starting next thursday, is doing an ENE?!...

Had you read the PACER posting by Silversurfer you would understand clearly that these cases are set for trial, (what was it MAY, 08), and there are Court date "Settlement conferences" set for March, 08, as I recall.

That , by any strech of immagination does not qualify these complex litigation cases as being early for anything. In point of fact, if anything it is too late for any "Mediation Games" to be played, and if the parties wanted one last chance to settle their differences before they appear in Court attaending a mandatory settlement conference in March, Thursday 12/11 IS IT...

This morning as I was driving to Napa to appear in Court when I heard a dicussion by several Noted Psychiatrists and Computer Science big names on the radio. They were discussing a new affliction, which they labled Google disease.

As they described it, people are suffering great lapses in common sense and judgment by seeking answers to their question lon google. Often the conclusions they reach are wrong and can lead to serious consequences, particularly in fileds of Meicine and Law...

ENE is often tried in the earliest stages of a case, right after depositions and discovery. Mandatory Settlelement conferences are requested by the parties before a retired judge of their choosing whose decision can be adopted by the Court handling the case. They are often requested by the parties who think they are ever so close to a settlement but they need to impress their clients with the merit of their recommendation. The last of these phases is the Manatory settlement conferences set before the judge of the Court, usually 60 days before the trial date, and then is "Get ready to put the show on", OR TRY RHE CASE....

Gil...