Federal judges in any enforcement action are required to issue a scheduling order that, among other things, limits the time for completion of discovery. See Rule 16(b), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In connection with discovery, courts, under Rule 37, require any party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the filing of a motion to compel to pay the reasonable expenses incurred by the other party in obtaining the order, including attorneys fees, unless opposition to the motion was substantially justified or other circumstances make such an award unjust. Similar sanctions are imposed under Rule 37 on parties that fail to comply with orders; that fail to attest to the genuineness of a document or the truth of any matter as requested under Rule 26; that fail to attend a deposition, serve answers to interrogatories, or respond to a request for inspection; or that fail to participate in framing a discovery plan. In addition, courts may impose similar sanctions on parties or on their attorneys for failure to obey a scheduling or pretrial order, if the attorney is unprepared or fails to participate in good faith. See Rule 16(f). The US International Trade Commission has similar authority in connection with § 337 cases. See 19 U.S.C. § 1337(h).
