Western District of Texas — Local Patent Rule Updates
W.D. Texas Assignments
The Western District of Texas has recently modified the assignment of patent cases filed in the Western District of Texas. Now, all civil cases involving patents are randomly assigned to the following Judges (by division):
Austin Division:
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman
Del Rio Division:
U.S. District Judge Alia Moses
El Paso Division:
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone
U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo
Midland/Odessa Division:
U.S. District Judge David Counts
San Antonio Division:
Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery
U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez
U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam
Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra
Waco Division:
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright
W.D. Texas Local Patent Rules by Division
The Local Rules in the Western District of Texas do not presently provide for any specific procedure. The procedure governing patent cases in the Western District of Texas are provided in Standing Orders issued by some Western District Judges. The Local Patent Rules (LPRs), if any, for each Judge (by Division) are as follows:
El Paso Division
Judge Cardone has entered one standing order for patent cases—Standing Order on Patent Cases (filed Sept. 14, 2022).
Midland/Odessa Division:
This Division has two General Standing Orders regarding patent cases: (1) Standing Order Regarding Patent and Trademark Cases (Aug. 2, 2022) and (2) Standing Order Governing Patent Proceedings (Aug. 2, 2022)
Waco Division:
Judge Albright has released several standing orders for patent cases, which apply generally based on the date that the case was filed.
The primary standing order for patent cases is the Standing Order Governing Proceedings (OGP) 4.2—Patent Cases (Sept. 16, 2022). In addition the OGP, Judge Albright has the following orders that also apply for patent cases:
Standing Order Regarding Patent Trademark Cases (Nov. 22, 2019)
Standing Order Regarding Notice of Readiness for Patent Cases (Mar. 7, 2022)
Standing Order for Discovery Hearings in Patent Cases (June 17, 2021)
Amended Standing Order Regarding Venue and Jurisdictional Discovery Limits for Patent Cases (June 8, 2021)
Moreover, Judge Albright also has some generally applicable standing orders that frequently arise:
Second Amended Standing Order Regarding Motions For Inter-District Transfer (Aug. 18, 2021)
Amended Standing Order Regarding Joint Or Unopposed Request To Change Deadlines (Mar. 7, 2022)
Amended Standing Order Regarding Filing Documents Under Seal and Redacted Public Versions (Mar. 7, 2022)
For more information on this article and this topic, contact Christian Cowart.