On April 20, 2022, the Daily Journal featured Sarah Brooks’ article, “Will the Western District of Texas Remain a Busy Patent Venue Despite Transfers,” stating that plaintiffs believe the Western District of Texas to be a preferred plaintiff-friendly venue for patent litigation. The following is an excerpt:
Judge Alan Albright, a former patent litigator, was appointed on Sept. 10, 2018 to the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas. In 2016 and 2017, the two years before Judge Albright took the bench, the Waco Division received a total of only five patent cases. (Westlaw Litigation Analytics, Thompson Reuters, 2022). However, in 2019, Judge Albright’s first year on the bench, the Western District of Texas received 279 patent filings, a similar number to the Northern District of California which received 255 filings. (Unified Patents Annual Patent Dispute Report 2019). The next year, however, in 2020, the Western District had an astonishing 886 filings, while the Northern District remained at 298 filings. (Unified Patents Annual Patent Dispute Report 2020). In 2021, the WDTX received 987 patent filings. (Unified Patents Annual Patent Dispute Report 2021).
From the sheer volume of patent filings in the Western District of Texas, it is clear that plaintiffs believe the Western District of Texas to be a preferred plaintiff-friendly venue for patent litigation, much like the Eastern District of Texas was for patent cases for some time. However, the Western District is now a significantly busier patent venue than the Eastern District of Texas.