LegalMetric Research has been running an interesting series of reports on nationwide patent litigation statistics by district. And in each case, the Northern District remains among the top patent district courts. 2009 was the rare year that the Northern District slipped out of the top five districts in terms of filings, but it only fell to sixth. And the combination of the new Local Patent Rules and the false marking cases will change that significantly for 2010 (more on both of those issues in the next few weeks). Here are the top ten districts by the number of patent suits filed in 2009:

1. C.D. California

 

2. E.D. Texas

 

3. D. Delaware

 

4. N.D. California

 

5. D. New Jersey

 

6. N.D. Illinois

 

7. S.D. New York

 

8. S.D. California

 

9. D. Massachusetts

 

10. E.D. Virginia

 

The Northern District is also one of six districts that produce half of all claim construction decisions. Not surprisingly, the Eastern District of Texas, the Northern District of California and the District of Delaware produce the most, with the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of New York and the Central District of California filling out the six. And these six districts also issue 43% of all reexam stays.

 

Finally, Judge Pallmeyer is the lone Northern District of Illinois on the list of top 30 patent judges by the number of 2009 patent cases assigned to them. Pallmeyer came in at number 23. The top five spots were held by Eastern District of Texas and District of Delaware. It is not surprising to see only a single Northern District judge on this list because the bench is relatively large, in particular compared to some of the other top patent districts like the Eastern District of Texas and the District of Delaware. But more Northern District judges will likely be in the top 30 next year because of increased filings through the first quarter, as well as the fifty or so false patent marking suits filed in the Northern District beyond the usual patent cases.