Derek Gilliland Featured in Texas Lawyer with Commentary Analyzing the Benefits of Texas’s Dominant Patent Court

Sorey, Gilliland & Hull Partner Derek Gilliland Featured in Texas Lawyer with Commentary Analyzing the Benefits of Texas’s Dominant Patent Court.

Texas Lawyer magazine has published a commentary by Sorey & Hoover Partner Derek Gilliland highlighting the advantages of Texas’s dominant patent court – the Western District of Texas. In the commentary, “A Dominant Patent Court is a Good Thing” (subscription required), Mr. Gilliland also raises questions about big tech companies that enjoy the state’s business climate but then work to avoid its legal system.

In the article, Mr. Gilliland cites a recent case, In re Apple, Case No. 2020-135 (CAFC Nov. 9, 2020), in which tech giant Apple pushed to have the case moved to the Northern District of California, claiming that trying the lawsuit in U.S. District Judge Alan Albright’s court was not convenient. Most troubling, Gilliland writes, is that Apple’s mandamus addressed only the location issue and mentions nothing about the underlying questions of infringement, validity or damages at the heart of the dispute.

Mr. Gilliland goes on to outline why patent lawsuits benefit from having specialized courts – which the Waco Division of the Western District has become – and details Judge Albright’s record of quickly and efficiently resolving patent disputes. He also warns that such decisions could encourage other companies to follow Apple’s lead.

“If history and human nature are any guide, others will follow suit with premature mandamus petitions attacking lower courts and – in the process – indirectly attacking judges such as Albright,” he writes. “I’m hopeful that the Federal Circuit will temper its use of mandamus in such cases.”

Derek Gilliland is a veteran patent trial lawyer with offices in Longview and Waco. To schedule an appointment, contact our firm today.