Delaware IP Law Blog

On the heels of the announcement that judges from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania will begin hearing cases filed in Delaware, Third Circuit Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica has designated six judges from the District of New Jersey to do the same. The designation orders, effective last Thursday, increase the total non-Delaware judicial delegation to twelve (navigate to revised "7/28/2008" link).

According to the Wilmington News Journal, every fourth civil case will be assigned to one of the designated district judges. Although the judges will likely hear pretrial matters in either Pennsylvania or New Jersey, trials will be conducted in Delaware.

The six designated district judges from New Jersey are: Hon. Renee Marie Bumb, Hon. Mary Little Cooper, Hon. Noel L. Hillman, Hon. Robert B. Kugler, Hon. Joel A. Pisano, and Hon. Jerome B. Simandle.

At the recent annual luncheon held by the Delaware chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Judge Sleet presented on the "state of the court." As part of his presentation, the Court provided attendees with a copy of the first "Annual Report of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware 2008." The report provides a number of interesting statistics on the continuing growth in case load and patent filings.

In 2007, 19% of civil case filings in the district were for patent cases. Delaware held 17 patent trials in 2007, 8 of which were bench trials. The total number of patent trials in Delaware during 2007 was nearly 20% of the total held nationwide. The District of Delaware continues to be first in the country for number of patent cases per judge. Finally, 157 patent cases were filed in this district last year, up from 139 in 2006.

Despite all of the discussions regarding a downturn in patent filings nationwide, patent litigation continues to grow and thrive in the District of Delaware!

Yesterday, Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals designated several Pennsylvania district judges to preside over cases litigated in the District of Delaware. According to the Court's six standing orders, selected judges from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania will immediately begin hearing newly filed District of Delaware cases.

The six judges are: Hon. Harvey Bartle III, Hon. Stewart Dalzell, Hon. Legrome D. Davis, Hon. J. Curtis Joyner, Hon. Robert F. Kelly, and Hon. Eduardo C. Robreno. The designation orders are available on the D. Del. website (navigate to "7/28/2008" link).

According to comments made by D. Del. Chief Judge Gregory M. Sleet at today's Federal Bar Association meeting, the visiting judges will hear every fourth civil case brought in this district.