Patent reform is back on the table and is one of the few areas on which the current Congress and president agree. Interestingly for Texas, the proposals don’t take any shots at the Eastern District of Texas, which carries the largest patent suit docket in the country. Instead, some reforms actually move in the direction that judges in the Eastern District have already taken and also adopt procedures used in Texas’ Western District.
In 2011, the America Invents Act took steps to limit multi-defendant patent cases, especially in the Eastern District. Under the AIA, the vehicle for change was joinder provisions. The AIA changed the law so that a patent holder had to file multiple suits against multiple infringers rather than a single multi-defendant case. The intention was to separate defendants into different matters thereby making it easier for a single defendant to have a case transferred out of the Eastern District.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
