Ran across an interesting article this morning by Peter Scoolidge of Fisch Hoffman Sigler LLP on Law 360 discussing the Patent Pilot Program’s
impact on venue analysis in some federal courts. As an aside, Peter is about the only lawyer I don't know at FHS - Alan Fisch, Jason Hoffman, Bill Sigler and Jeff Saltman spent last October in Marshall working out of the Hub trying the Alexsam v. Pier 1 case for the defendant, along with Joe Drayton, now with Cooley.
As readers may know, the Patent Pilot
Program provides for judges in 14 district courts to
volunteer to take patent cases from other judges in their district.
Since the Program’s debut in 2011, several courts, and the Judicial
Panel on Multi-District Litigation, have discussed whether a
participating court is a better venue for a patent infringement case
compared to a court with no patent-specific procedures. The cases go both way, as Peter's article notes.
