PATENT LITIGATION IN THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
Part 2 of IAM's Interview with Judge Albright (aka "Why Waco is Fair, and Not Plaintiff-Oriented)4/9/2020  Richard Lloyd at IAM has published part 2 of his interview with Judge Albright of the Western District of Texas Waco Division. For part 1, see my earlier post. Interestingly, Judge Albright makes a point to point out that his court should not be considered plaintiff-friendly, but rather, "scrupulously fair": So, every single time I have ever given a talk to anybody, I have tried to stress that what I am hoping the people are going to get from my court is someone who had 20 years of experience handling patent cases and handled a fair number of patent trials to verdict - but also handled them on both sides of the docket. I want every party that comes out of my court to feel like I was scrupulously fair:  I have been saying this since Judge Albright (re)took the bench. Patent owners are rejoicing at the ability to file in Waco not because they get an unfair advantage, but rather because -- unlike many district courts and the PTAB -- the rules are not 100% against them. Perhaps the most important aspect of Judge Albright's court is that he generally does not stay litigation pending IPRs at the PTAB. As he says in part 2 of the interview: "I think that people have a constitutional right to assert their patent. I mean, patents are in the Constitution, the right to a jury trial is in the Constitution. I am not taking away anyone's right to go to the PTAB, but I think people ought to have a jury trial. [] I don't have any problem with the idea of the PTAB handling validity issues, but I will say this: I think juries are very wise and I think we can count on them to make the right decisions if they are provided with the right evidence. So, I have great faith in the juries on every issue." It's sad that because defendants do not have their normal huge advantage, they are eager to imply that Waco is "plaintiff-friendly." Like Judge Albright, I think the better term is "fair."
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  Richard Lloyd at IAM just published his excellent interview with Judge Albright of the Western District of Texas Waco Division. I fully recommend everyone give it a read.
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