LG Electronics halted ATSC 3.0 receiver chips in TV sets after losing a patent law suit. Surprising, but considering where the case was filed, it could have been predicted.
The trial was held in the Eastern District Court of Texas which has a reputation for deciding cases with a high degree of favorability for patent holders and patent trolls. A fair question is how much “favorability” is there? I found two studies that add perspective to this question.
The above chart shows the 10 district courts most frequently used for patent infringement lawsuits. The study represents activity for the first half of 2024 and was conducted by Unified Patents.
The Eastern and Western Texas Districts have the most cases by far and are also the only district courts with significantly more cases from patent trolls a.k.a. NPEs (companies that hold patents to profit from them through litigation) and much fewer cases from Non-NPEs (companies seeking litigation for patents they created or are involved with).
A second study from the grass roots action group Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse (TALA) adds more perspective. There are 94 US federal district courts where a patent infringement case can be filed. According to TALA, in 2023 the Eastern and Western Texas Districts accounted for 60% of all initial patent cases filed in the US.
This case against LG Electronics is being appealed in a federal appeals court. We will then see if the “favorability” found in East Texas is extended to an appeals court in Washington, DC.
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