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`Interview
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`West Texas Judge Says He Can Move Faster Than PTAB
`
`By Britain Eakin
`
`Law360 (November 27, 2019, 4:37 PM EST) -- U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright hasn't
`been bashful about wanting to draw more patent matters to t he Western District of
`Texas. In roughly 15 mont hs on the federal bench, Judge Albright has transformed a once
`slow drip of pa tent cases in the Waco division into a steady stream, adding more than
`200 patent cases to his docket.
`
`Though he hasn't tried a patent case yet, the former Austi n-based Bracewell LLP patent
`litigator has spoken open ly at conferences about how his experience as an attorney
`shaped how he approaches patent cases, and told Law360 he can probably hammer out
`a patent trial more swiftly than t he Paten t Trial and Appeal Board.
`
`"It's my job to give people the opportunity to have their cases t ried in a federal court ...
`and I probably can get a paten t trial resolved more quickly than t he PTAB can," Judge
`Albright sa id.
`
`It's a bold claim, as the average time to trial for a patent case in dist rict court is 2½ years,
`according to a 2018 report from PwC, while t he U.S. Paten t and Trademark Office says
`PTAB cases should take no more than 1½ years. So how does Judge Albright say he'll do
`it?
`
`His confidence might be attributable to his local rules and scheduling procedures, which
`he wasted no time getti ng to work on after being appointed to the federal bench in
`September 2018. The rules require plaintiffs to serve preliminary infringement
`contentions within a week of an initial case management conference identifying where in
`the accused prod ucts the element of the patent claims are found.
`
`Claim construction, or Markman hearings, are set for around 23 weeks after the case
`management conference, w ith a t rial scheduled for around 12 to 14 months after that.
`His rules also set page limits for claim construction briefs and motions for summary
`
`judgment.
`
`And when it comes to typical discovery issues, the judge said he doesn't need briefi ng.
`Instead he prefers to handle such matters over t he phone and said his approach is more
`like a mediator, negotiating back and forth to see w hat's agreeable to all pa rties.
`
`"I try to get the lawyers to buy in on the resolution of it," he said.
`
`At t he American Intellectual Property Law Association conference last month, Judge
`Albright sa id his procedures are intended to enable attorneys to give their clien ts some
`certainty about how he handles patent cases.
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`Document title: West Texas Judge Says He Can Move Faster Than PTAB - Law360
`Capture URL: https://www.law360.com/articles/1224105/west-texas-judge-says-he-can-move-faster-than-ptab
`Capture timestamp (UTC): Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:00:37 GMT
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`like a mediator, negotiating back and forth to see w hat's agreeable to all pa rties.
`
`"I try to get the lawyers to buy in on the resolution of it," he said.
`
`At the American Intellectual Property Law Association conference last month, Judge
`Albright sa id his procedures are intended to enable attorneys to give their clients some
`certainty about how he handles patent cases.
`
`The former federal magistrate judge turned litigator sa id at the conference that his
`previous courtroom experience has shaped how he presides over cases. Having
`represented both plaintiffs and defendants, he told Law360 that it's important for both
`sides to feel they got a fa ir process and a fair trial.
`
`"The platinum standard for a judge that I'm trying to achieve is that no one when they
`left the courtroom would have any idea w ho I thought should w in or lose," Judge Albright
`said. "Whether either party had 100 bucks or a bil lion, it absolutely does not matter to
`me. My goal is to come up with t he right result.''
`
`Despite a host of rules in his court designed to speed up proceedings, Judge Albright said
`he's not trying to forge a new path for patent litigation. Rather, he sa id his approach is
`"one that works for me," and his only goal is "to give people who are doing IP litigation an
`alternative venue that they can consider.''
`
`ICdt
`
`Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its
`2021 Practice Groups of the Year awards. which
`honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and
`major deals that resonated throughout the leg.ii
`industry this past year.
`
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`Building Waco as an attractive patent venue is a way to relieve pressure on what he
`called an "overburdened" system, which the judge likened to a big river that needs a few
`valves to keep from overflowing.
`
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`J.
`
`Saying he's not in competition w ith anyone, Judge Albright added that he wants Waco to
`be another venue that can help ease the patent case load in places like California and
`Delaware, the latter of which he said gets about 1,500 patent cases per year.
`
`Though he has expanded his patent docket, Judge Albright hasn't yet adjudicated a case
`through trial. His first case going to trial is Final rod IP v. John Crane and is slated to kick
`off Feb. 3 in M idland, though t he parties have a pending motion w ith the court to push
`that back until May.
`
`Nonetheless the judge said he has enough of a public t rack record on how he handles
`patent cases to allow attorneys to assess whether Waco will be a good venue for their
`clients or not. And he sa id he wants to be evaluated - he encourages attorneys to bring
`their clients to every hearing, especially the Markman hearings, which he holds on
`Fridays.
`
`"If you're comfortable with the way a judge handles a Markman hearing, then I think
`you'd feel more comforted that person will be ultimately handling the t rial," Judge
`Albright sa id.
`
`The j udge said one of t he primary reasons he wanted to be appointed to the federal
`bench is to take on patent cases. W ith 30 years of litigation experience - 20 of those
`handling all phases of patent cases - Judge Albright said it would benefit the entire bar if
`attorneys can file in his court and know that he already understands the issues well.
`
`But he said he also enjoys the intellectual challenge of patent cases and dealing w ith
`
`Q Ask a question! »
`
`Document title: West Texas Judge Says He Can Move Faster Than PTAB - Law360
`Capture URL: https://www.law360.com/articles/1224105/west-texas-judge-says-he-can-move-faster-than-ptab
`Capture timestamp (UTC): Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:00:37 GMT
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`Page 2 of 3
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`

`

`Nonetheless the judge said he has enough of a public t rack record on how he handles
`patent cases to allow attorneys to assess whether Waco will be a good venue for their
`clients or not. And he said he wants to be evaluated - he encourages attorneys to bring
`their clients to every hearing, especially the Markman hearings, which he holds on
`Fridays.
`
`"If you're comfortable with t he way a judge handles a Markman hearing, then I think
`you'd feel more comforted that person will be ultimately handling the t rial," Judge
`Albright said.
`
`The j udge said one of t he primary reasons he wanted to be appointed to t he federal
`bench is to take on patent cases. W ith 30 years of litigation experience - 20 of t hose
`handling all phases of patent cases - Judge Albright said it would benefi t the entire bar if
`attorneys can file in his court and know that he already understands the issues well.
`
`But he said he also enjoys the intellectual cha llenge of patent cases and dealing w ith
`different technologies in every case, something he said he loved as a trial lawyer.
`
`"I like the idea of having a patent trial one month on aerospace technology and the next
`month dealing with valves;· he said. "I like the diversity of technologies that you get
`presiding over IP cases."
`
`--Additional reporting by M ichelle Casady. Editi ng by Adam Lo Belia.
`
`For a reprint of this article. please contact reprints@law360.com.
`
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`Document title: West Texas Judge Says He Can Move Faster Than PTAB - Law360
`Capture URL: https://www.law360.com/articles/1224105/west-texas-judge-says-he-can-move-faster-than-ptab
`Capture timestamp (UTC): Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:00:37 GMT
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