"“The trend of the Eastern District of Texas favoring patent plaintiffs more than other districts has lead to extreme forum shopping,” Daniel Nazer with EFF told the Southeast Texas Record.
Texas has a record of rejecting 73 percent of pretrial challenges, while the national average is 29 percent, according to data published by the EFF.
Nazer says the disparity in those numbers causes plaintiffs to file cases where they think they can get an advantage.
“Almost half of all national patient cases are filed in a single federal district that has very limited ties to the technology industry. EFF does not believe that this is a fair or sensible outcome,” Nazer told the Record.
Still, Nazan says he doubts the new patent office will have an impact – good or bad – on low quality patents being issued or patent trolls coming to Texas.
“I don't think a Dallas regional office will have much impact on trolling,” Nazer said. “Patent trolling arises later in the patent life-cycle – and usually involves trolls purchasing low quality patents years after they issue to use in litigation campaigns.”"
- Date Published:12/15/2015
- Original Publication:SE Texas Record