Patent Law

The following is excerpted from an article by Rachel M. Zahorsky that appeared in the January 2010 print issue of the ABA Journal:

A plan to help some federal judges wade deeper into the pool of patent cases is awaiting U.S. Senate approval?just like it has for two congressional sessions.

H.R. 628 was reintroduced by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in January 2009, and the House has passed it twice. It now sits in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it has been since March.

The bill would authorize $5 million annually to establish a 10-year pilot program in at least five U.S. district courts that deal with the largest number of patent cases.

Read the full article and reader comments here.

See also an article titled, "Should The United States Designate Specialist Patent Trial Judges? An Empirical Analysis of H.R. 628 In Light of the English Experience and the Work of Professor Moore" by Donna M. Gitter in the May 15, 2009 issue of The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review. "This Article concludes that designation of specialist patent trial judges among the federal district court judiciary is likely to reduce the high appellate claim construction reversal rate, based upon an empirical analysis of the appellate claim construction reversal rate in England, which has specialized patent tribunals."