January 2, 2009

Patent defendants would find themselves involuntarily checked into the plaintiff-friendly Eastern District of Texas, and they couldn't check out. Now (per The Recorder) the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has "ruled that Eastern District Judge John Ward 'clearly abused' his discretion when he denied TS Tech Co.'s motion to transfer its patent fight with Lear Corp. to a more convenient venue in Ohio." On top of the Fifth Circuit's recent Volkswagen case, it's pretty clear that appellate judges are growing impatient with the district's notorious reputation as a forum-shopping destination.