Context: Temporarily, more patent infringement cases were filed with the Waco division of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas as patentees flocked to that court to put their cases in front of Judge Alan D. Albright, a former patent litigator who promised to take patent cases to trial rather swiftly. Under pressure, the district changes its assignment rules for patent cases, which greatly reduced (as intended) its attractiveness to patentees. But Judge Albright still has a significant patent docket.
What’s new: Yesterday (April 5, 2024), some of the rulings published by the Federal Circuit and a recording of an April 2, 2024 hearing (YouTube) show that Judge Albright has recently helped out. Judge Albright can sit by designation on the U.S. appeals court that hears all patent infringement appeals from district courts and the ITC as well as all appeals from the USPTO (as well as some non-patent matters). Also, on Thursday (April 4, 2024) the Federal Circuit (obviously without him on the panel) affirmed, by means of a denial of a petition for writ of mandamus, his denial of a motion by Google to transfer to the Northern District of California a patent infringement action brought by Proxense (PDF).
Direct impact & wider ramifications: Judge Albright has certainly been no stranger to the Federal Circuit in the sense that numerous of his denials of venue transfers as well as various of his substantive rulings reached that appeals court. The fact that he helps out the circuit judges on some cases does not mean that they will be more inclined to side with him: the decisions are reached strictly on the merits. It is, however, an opportunity for the appellate judges and Judge Albright to get to know each other better. And one could imagine Judge Albright being appointed to the Federal Circuit, though judicial nominations in the U.S. involve a variety of considerations.
Judge Albright is far more balanced than the temporarily extensive “judge-shopping” surrounding him suggests. He is by no means a judge looking for ways to side with patent holders. He does like to hear patent cases, though.
The following appeals were heard by the Federal Circuit with Judge Albright’s participation (alongside Chief Judge Moore and Judge Lourie) on Tuesday (April 2, 2024):
- 23-1035 Realtime Adaptive Streaming LLC v. Sling TV, L.L.C.
- 23-1169 Amarin Pharma, Inc. v. Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
- 23-1457 Skull Shaver, LLC v. Ideavillage Products Corp.
- 23-1511 Hebert v. Allied Rubber & Gasket Co.
On Friday, a PTAB decision was affirmed in the following case, with Judge Albright participating alongside Judes Reyna and Cunningham) (PDF):
- 2022-1372 DSS, Inc., fka Document Security Systems, Inc. v. Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Seoul Semiconductor Inc.
Veterans claims are one of the non-patent fields of law over which the Federal Circuit has appellate jurisdiction. Judge Albright also heard at least one such case (together with Judges Reyna and Cunningham):
- 2022-2282 Kevin Steele v. Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
There may have been more Federal Circuit appeals with Judge Albright on the bench, and there may be more to come. Maybe even many more.