Leonard Stark, Veteran Patent Judge, Confirmed to Federal Circuit

The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Leonard Stark to the Federal Circuit, the nation’s top patent court.

Stark, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, was approved on a vote of 61-35 Wednesday. Stark has handled 2,400 patent cases—63 of which have gone to trial—in his decade on the bench.

Stark will replace Judge Kathleen M. O’Malley, who plans to retire in March. O’Malley is the only current member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit with experience as a trial judge.