Dance of the Districts

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Dance of the Districts


Like our colleagues, we at IP Wise received LegalMetric’s latest email blast with patent–related statistics, and noted the striking fact that all six of the top judges (in terms of number of patent cases filed in 2011) were located either in Texas (Davis, Folsom, Gilstrap) or in Delaware (Sleet, Stark, Robinson). Each judge had over 100 patent cases assigned in 2011—impressive for Judge Gilstrap, who was just confirmed in December—and Judge Davis had more than 200.

Out of curiosity, we also visited the Administrative Office of the Court’s website, where statistics were available for the number of intellectual property cases filed between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011 (and prior years). While these figures obviously include copyright and trademark cases, as well as patent cases, during that particular 12–month interval, 297 IP cases were filed in Delaware, and 845 IP cases were filed in the Eastern District of Texas. This was an increase from 287 IP cases filed in Delaware between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010—and way up from the 299 IP cases filed in the Eastern District of Texas during that time frame. (Most likely due to the surge of so–called “false marking” cases).

We look forward to seeing more recent statistics, as to whether the District of Delaware is now seeing increased patent litigation, as well as the impact of the America Invents Act on case filings.

Posted by Stacy Stitham

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