In 2011, Congress launched the Patent Pilot Program. This program allows a small number of judges within a district court to take on the lion’s share of patent cases within the district. The hope is that judges will develop an expertise in patent cases, promoting efficiency within the judicial system. The Southern District of Florida was one of 14 district courts across the country selected to take part in this program. Under the Pilot Program, a judge to whom a patent case is assigned can decline to accept the case, at which point it is randomly reassigned to one of the judges specifically designated to participate in the program.
In the Southern District of Florida, Judges Donald Middlebrooks, Michael Moore and Patricia Seitz were appointed to the patent panel. During the three years the program was in force, the number of patent cases filed in the district skyrocketed. Yet it all came to a sudden end in June, when the former chief judge of the Southern District, Federico Moreno, signed an order terminating the court’s participation in the program as of July 7.
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