Leading Patent Judge Albright Snubs Call for Funding Disclosures

A federal judge in one of the country’s busiest courts for patent disputes says there’s no need to unmask outside funders behind those cases.

“I’m very much in the situation of Congress not fixing something that I personally don’t think is broken,” Alan Albright, a judge in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, said Wednesday.

Albright’s comments, speaking at a conference in Houston, come as lawmakers on Capitol Hill and in statehouses look to regulate the outside funding of lawsuits, including through forced disclosures. The $16.1 billion litigation funding industry is preparing for another fight in ...