3/2/2021
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`WDTX Judge Albright Touts Revamped Courtroom Tech - Law360
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`WDTX Judge Albright Touts Revamped Courtroom Tech
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`By Katie Buehler
`Law360 (February 26, 2021, 9:27 PM EST) -- Western District of Texas Judge Alan D. Albright says he made
`huge upgrades to technology in his Waco courtroom ahead of the trial he's currently presiding over, a
`computer chip patent dispute between patent holder VLSI Technology LLC and Intel Corp.
`
`The trial, which began Feb. 22 and is expected to wrap up early next week, is only Judge Albright's second
`in-person patent jury trial since his assignment to the federal bench in September 2018. His first such trial,
`held in October, resulted in a take-nothing verdict in favor of Roku Inc., which had been accused of
`copying screen-mirroring and screen-casting technology owned by MV3 Partners LLC.
`
`Judge Albright not only ramped up COVID-19 safety protocols between the two trials to include daily
`rapid tests for all participants, he also "completely tore out what we had" as far as courtroom technology
`and replaced it. Now he can simulcast the VLSI-Intel trial by audio, similar to how the U.S. Supreme Court
`simulcasts its oral arguments, he said.
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`"That means fewer people in the courtroom — everyone feels better about that," he said while speaking
`Friday at a Q&A webcast sponsored by Munck Wilson Mandala LLP and Caldwell Cassady & Curry.
`
`The hourlong webcast, pitched as a discussion of current trends and developments in patent litigation,
`began with fellow panel members — Caldwell Cassady & Curry principal Brad Caldwell, Munck Wilson
`Mandala senior partner Michael C. Wilson and Toyota Motor North America Inc. in-house counsel Kelly Chen
`— asking Judge Albright about holding trials during the coronavirus pandemic.
`
`"Every time you do it, you do it better than the time before," Judge Albright said.
`
`During the Roku-MV3 trial, jurors, attorneys and attendees were asked to wear face masks except when
`speaking, multiple hand sanitizer bottles were made available throughout the courtroom, an air purifier was
`placed near the jury box, and the witness stand was surrounded with plexiglass and cleaned between
`witnesses. As the trial progressed, the judge also had court staff block off parts of the benches in the gallery
`with blue tape, measuring out 6 feet between available seats.
`
`While he kept most of the precautions in place heading into the VLSI-Intel trial, Judge Albright also ramped
`up precautions. For example, in October observers sometimes moved the blue tape to create seats on the
`bench. For his current trial, the judge limited the number of attorneys and support staff each side can have
`present in the courtroom to six, set aside an overflow room for additional attorneys and staff, and granted
`the public and others remote access to the trial's audio.
`
`Judge Albright said Friday that he checks in frequently with the jurors, and they tell him they feel well taken
`care of.
`
`"People feel like we're doing everything we can to make them feel safe," he said.
`
`The tech upgrades also help outside of the trial setting, according to Judge Albright, who said he has noticed
`more clients are attending his pretrial hearings with the help of Zoom. The videoconference platform has
`also opened the door for younger associates and attorneys to practice arguing in his court, especially at
`claim-construction hearings. Judge Albright said he encourages attorneys to have their younger associates
`appear by Zoom to argue claims that might not have been argued in front of him, for the sake of practice.
`
`"It's a real upside of what Zoom has done," he said.
`
`Friday's discussion also touched on hot topics, such as Judge Albright's opinion on multipatent cases and
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`Apple Inc. v. Koss Corporation
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`3/2/2021
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`WDTX Judge Albright Touts Revamped Courtroom Tech - Law360
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`motions to transfer.
`
`Before the VLSI-Intel trial began, Intel fought Judge Albright's decision to transfer the case from the
`Western District of Texas' Austin division, where the courthouse is currently closed due to COVID-19
`restrictions, to the Waco division for trial. The judge didn't discuss the Intel venue fight during the webcast,
`but did say he wants more guidance from the Federal Circuit and Supreme Court when it comes to deciding
`venue fights.
`
`Most motions to change venue filed in his court are filed for convenience rather than jurisdiction, he said.
`But he believes the judiciary needs to update what it considers when deciding convenience issues in light of
`changes in technology and how companies function.
`
`"For someone to come in now and say all of the information is located in X, well if you're a high-tech
`company, it's really wherever a person with a laptop is sitting," Judge Albright said. "It would help if the
`circuit could update and say take these into consideration because we've changed over the last 10, 20
`years."
`
`"It would help district judges a lot if we could modernize what's really considered for motions based on
`convenience," he added.
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`Judge Albright also reiterated his thoughts on multipatent trials that he expressed during a December
`2020 panel discussion.
`
`Chen asked the judge at what number of patents he would consider bifurcating trials, and the judge said
`five patents seemed like a good cutoff. While it would differ on a case-by-case basis, the judge said trying
`five patents at once was "really pushing the outer limit of how many patents I would want to take to trial."
`
`But, he added, if both sides agreed to try a case with more than five patents all at once, he would defer to
`their decision.
`
`"If both lawyers thought that would be the best way to do it, I would probably do it," he said.
`
`--Editing by Breda Lund.
`
`Update: This story has been updated to include additional sponsors of the webcast.
`
`All Content © 2003-2021, Portfolio Media, Inc.
`
`https://www.law360.com/articles/1359063/print?section=ip
`
`2/2
`
`Koss 2008
`Apple Inc. v. Koss Corporation
`IPR2021-00255
`
`