Supreme Court Considers Why Patent Trolls Love Texas
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week over whether to impose limits on the filings of patent lawsuits in a federal court in East Texas with a reputation for friendliness to plaintiffs, according to a New York Times article.
Reporter Adam Liptak writes that more than 40 percent of patent lawsuits are filed in the East Texas federal district.
“In recent years, a single judge based in Marshall, Tex., oversaw about a quarter of all patent cases nationwide, more than the number handled by all federal judges in California, Florida and New York combined,” Liptak writes.
Because the Texas court is a favorite venue of patent trolls, many tech companies filed supporting briefs in the case, TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, No. 16-341. Those companies urged the Supreme Court to limit the places where defendants in patent cases may be sued.
