Bifurcation of liability and damages — perhaps even trifurcation of infringement, invalidity/inequitable conduct, and damages — may be coming back as a common case control tool of district courts, as well as a cost-containment tool for retailers, and defendants generally.  In Bosch v. Pylon Manufacturing, Slip Op. (Fed. Cir. June 18, 2013), the Federal Circuit held en banc that a party can appeal a liability trial decision before the Court empanels a jury to decide the damages and willfulness cases.  Many district courts choose not to bifurcate damages because, among other reasons, the all too common Federal Circuit reversal can mean that two trials were negated, instead of one.  That is an enormous time and resource drain for the district court.  But now that the Federal Circuit has allowed parties to appeal after the first of bifurcated trials, district courts may reevaluate the potential benefits of bifurcation.  That is exciting for retailers who would like to streamline the litigation process and focus the Court’s and their own attention on the key liability issues.  Only time will tell whether courts begin bifurcating more (of course, some already do), but it seems likely that we will see more bifurcated proceedings just based upon the number of courts that bifurcate damages discovery, leaving it for the end of the discovery period.