I attended the 2024 Delaware Regional Federal Circuit Bench and Bar today. It was a great program with many judges speaking on panels, plus an interview with Judge Dyk of the Federal Circuit and remarks by Senator Chris Coons. Here are some notes about interesting points from the conference, in case you missed it.
New Judges for the District of Delaware
Of particular interest to District of Delaware attorneys (and litigants) is the great news about two potential new judges. Senator Coons relayed the news—which we here at IP/DE had not picked up on—that the U.S. Senate has unanimously approved the JUDGES act, and that the act adds two new District of Delaware Judgeships.
The act spreads the new judges out over multiple years. If all goes well in the House, the District of Delaware could see a first new judge in 2025 (next year), and a second new judge in 2029. Nice!!
Some Other Notable Remarks
I didn't hear any of the organizers announce a rule against attribution. But that has been the rule at times in the past, so to be on the safe side, the below comments are listed without identifying which judge or judges made them. You'll have to guess:
- 2024 NPE patent filings are way down, but competitors cases are basically stable.
- Regular assignment of cases to visiting judges should be slowing down, although it may not go away entirely.
- One of the judges mentioned that they offer trial dates when they ask parties to submit scheduling orders for ANDA cases. Another said that's a good idea.
- There is no uniformity around litigation funding disclosures; that is primarily a Chief Judge Connolly requirement, and the other D. Del. judges have not adopted his standing orders.
- There are no current plans to bring the ADR/Mediation program back to the District of Delaware after it ended in 2022. The judges were uncertain about its overall effectiveness in reducing case load compared to the huge amount of work it took. The judges have had some recent discussions, however, on how to promote mediation in other ways.
- Overall the judges noted the trend towards fewer § 101 decisions at the summary judgment stage.
- The judges commented on how ANDA cases often boil down to a battle of the experts, and how some question the value of fact witnesses at all in ANDA cases.
There were many others as well, but they are largely judge-specific, and I'm not sure everyone who spoke would appreciate their comments being in a blog post. It was a great program, though. If you missed it, I'd say it's worth attending next time!
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