Interestingly, the Lex Machina update shows a significant decline in case filings in the Eastern District of Texas (E.D. Tex.) correlating strongly with the Supreme Court’s recent decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, a case which restricted the statute on proper venue for patent infringement cases. 293 patent cases were filed in E.D. Tex. during 2017’s second quarter. That accounts for 26 percent of all patent cases filed in district court. That percentage share of overall patent filings is actually the lowest percentage filed in E.D. Tex. going back to the third quarter of 2014. Lex Machina data scientist Brian Howard notes that, when looking at a monthly comparison of patent case filings, E.D. Tex. case filings dropped significantly in May, the same month the TC Heartland decision came out, and have remained low since. “Texas had been chugging along until you get to TC Heartland, and then it just switches,” Howard said.

Howard added that it appears that the District of Delaware (D. Del.) has been the main beneficiary of the reduced case filings into E.D. Tex.. During 2017’s second quarter, 215 cases were filed into D. Del., 19 percent of all cases filed that quarter, and case filings have been higher in D. Del. than in E.D. Tex. since the May 22nd decision in TC Heartland. Looking at the parties filing cases into E.D. Tex., Howard noted that, while overall filings were down, it does not seem to have significantly affected the percentage of entities which are limited liability companies (LLCs) and other firms which are sometimes referred to as non-practicing entities (NPEs) or patent assertion entities (PAEs). So while TC Heartland may have affected case filings into E.D. Tex., it doesn’t seem to have greatly affected overall volume or the makeup of entities filing patent suits.

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