Patent Case Trends - First Half of 2009

Some observations from the patent case filings in the Eastern District for the first half of the year:

• The pace of filings during this calendar year (30) is roughly on track with the number of last year’s filings (58 for the year ending September 2008). During 2008, patent filings as a percentage of the district’s total caseload (2.25%) were more than double the national average (1.1%).
• Cases are fairly evenly spread across the district, even without a substantial number of intra-district transfers. There were 12 filings in Alexandria, 1 of which was transferred under the special patent case transfer procedure to the Norfolk division. 10 patent cases were filed in Norfolk, and 8 in Richmond.
• Cases are more or less evenly distributed among the judges. Each of the four non-senior judges in Alexandria has at least one pending case. Three of the four non-senior judges in the Norfolk division have at least one case also. In Richmond, the cases have been distributed evenly between Judge Spencer and Judge Payne, but as of yet, Judge Hudson has not drawn a patent case assignment in 2009.