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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 the Western District of Texas. In roughly 15
`months on the federal bench, Judge Albright has transformed a once slow drip of patent 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 Austin-based Bracewell LLP patent litigator has
`spoken openly 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 the
`Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
`
`"It's my job to give people the opportunity to have their cases tried in a federal court ... and I
`probably can get a patent trial resolved more quickly than the PTAB can," Judge Albright said.
`
`It's a bold claim, as the average time to trial for a patent case in district court is 2½ years, according
`to a 2018 report from PwC, while the U.S. Patent 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 getting 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 products the element of the patent claims
`are found.
`
`Claim construction, or Markman hearings, are set for around 23 weeks after the case management
`conference, with a trial 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 briefing. Instead he
`prefers to handle such matters over the phone and said his approach is more like a mediator,
`negotiating back and forth to see what's agreeable to all parties.
`
`"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 said 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 said 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 fair 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 who I thought should win or lose," Judge Albright said. "Whether
`either party had 100 bucks or a billion, it absolutely does not matter to me. My goal is to come up
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`LG DISPLAY CO., LTD. V. SOLAS OLED, LTD.
`IPR2020-01055
`Exhibit 2006
`Page 1
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`with the 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 said 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."
`
`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.
`
`Saying he's not in competition with 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 Finalrod IP v. John Crane and is slated to kick off Feb. 3 in Midland,
`though the parties have a pending motion with the court to push that back until May.
`
`Nonetheless the judge said he has enough of a public track 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 the way a judge handles a Markman hearing, then I think you'd feel more
`comforted that person will be ultimately handling the trial," Judge Albright said.
`
`The judge said one of the primary reasons he wanted to be appointed to the federal bench is to take
`on patent cases. With 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 with 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 Michelle Casady. Editing by Adam LoBelia.
`
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`
`LG DISPLAY CO., LTD. V. SOLAS OLED, LTD.
`IPR2020-01055
`Exhibit 2006
`Page 2
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