The Federal Circuit Orders Yet Another Case to be Transferred Out of the Eastern District of Texas

In re Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Misc. No. 911 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 2, 2009):

In this case, the Federal Circuit granted the petitioner’s petition for a writ of mandamus to direct the Eastern District of Texas to transfer the case to the Eastern District of North Carolina. In this year alone, the Federal Circuit has ordered multiple cases out of the Eastern District of Texas, a forum that is generally considered to favor plaintiffs/patentees. How this trend will affect the filing of patent infringement cases in the Eastern District of Texas, however, remains to be seen. Presumably, however, the plaintiffs in the future cases will have to think twice about bringing the lawsuits in the Eastern District of Texas.

An interesting note: the local economy in the Eastern District of Texas is reported to be largely supported by patent litigations. If such cases were to drop in the future, it would have a profound impact on the local economy.