Gilstrap Moves Over for America's Next Top Patent Judge

For years, the Eastern District of Texas has dominated patent law, with nearly 40 percent of all patent suits filed nationwide in the court over the last three years. Patent holders took advantage of being able to file in any district where the defendant made sales and viewed the Eastern District of Texas as patent-friendly. However, the Supreme Court's TC Heartland v. KraftFood decision held that patent owners can only file suit where the defendant is incorporated, or where it has infringed and has a "regular and established place of business." As a result, experts believe that this rule change will likely send more patent cases to Delaware and the Northern District of California. Law360 reached to Finnegan partner Laura P. Masurovsky for her thoughts on the expected shift.

Masurovsky said, "All of the Delaware judges have a mastery of patent law. Delaware is a forum patent litigators wanted to practice in even before TC Heartland because of the expertise of the judges."