Top Patent Venues Are Two Steps Ahead of Judge-Shopping Guidance

When the Western District of Texas implemented a new randomization policy in 2022 in response to outcry over the massive number of patent cases filed in its Waco Division, there were expectations that filings there would drop off a cliff, but it remained among the most popular patent venues in the country.

The US Judicial Conference recently issued guidance purporting to discourage judge shopping in “all civil cases, including patent cases.” But several attorneys predicted that because of the Western District’s 2022 order and a case-division order for the even-busier Marshall Division in Texas’ Eastern District, the guidance will have ...