© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Jeff Bounds
(April 13) – The number of new patent cases fell sharply in the first quarter in the Eastern District of Texas, reflecting a national drop that could be a hangover effect from a surge in November 2015.
The Tyler-based Eastern District had 291 new patent lawsuits filed in its jurisdiction between January and March, or roughly 30.5 percent of the 955 cases brought nationwide during that time frame, according to a report from the legal data firm Lex Machina.
That national number marked a quarterly low that the United States has not seen since 2011, the California-based business of LexisNexis reported.
In the fourth quarter of last year, East Texas saw 717 new patent cases, about 45.4 percent of the nation’s 1,577 infringement filings for that period.
Most of that fourth quarter spike, both in the Eastern District and nationwide, happened in November, as frequent plaintiffs rushed to file infringement lawsuits before new federal rules took effect Dec. 1 that, among other things, reduced the amount of discovery parties can do in patent litigation.
“Given the spike which occurred in November, it’s possible that many of the cases which would otherwise have been filed in the months of December, January and February were shifted up into November,” the Lex Machina report said.
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