United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
(E.D. Tex.)
LocationWilliam M. Steger Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
(Tyler)
More locations
Appeals toFifth Circuit
EstablishedFebruary 21, 1857
Judges8
Chief JudgeJ. Rodney Gilstrap
Officers of the court
U.S. AttorneyDamien Diggs
U.S. MarshalJohn M. Garrison
www.txed.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (in case citations, E.D. Tex.) is a federal court in the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was established on February 21, 1857, with the division of the state into an Eastern and Western District.[1]

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is one of four federal judicial districts in Texas.[2] Court for the District is held at Beaumont, Lufkin, Marshall, Plano, Sherman, Texarkana, and Tyler.

Beaumont Division comprises the following counties: Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, and Orange.

Lufkin Division comprises the following counties: Angelina, Houston, Nacogdoches, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Trinity, and Tyler.

Marshall Division comprises the following counties: Camp, Cass, Harrison, Marion, Morris, and Upshur.

Sherman Division comprises the following counties: Collin, Cooke, Delta, Denton, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, and Lamar.

Texarkana Division comprises the following counties: Bowie, Franklin, Red River, and Titus.

Tyler Division comprises the following counties: Anderson, Cherokee, Gregg, Henderson, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Smith, Van Zandt, and Wood.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of May 7, 2023, the United States Attorney is Damien Diggs.

History

The oldest federal civil building in Texas, the 1861 Customs and Courthouse in Galveston, housed headquarters for the Eastern District of Texas between 1861–1891.
Federal Courthouse in Galveston that housed the Eastern District court from 1891–1902, when the Southern District of Texas was created.[3]

The first federal judge in Texas was John C. Watrous, who was appointed on May 26, 1846, and had previously served as Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He was assigned to hold court in Galveston, at the time, the largest city in the state. As seat of the Texas Judicial District, the Galveston court had jurisdiction over the whole state.[4]

Patent litigation

The Eastern District of Texas currently hears the most patent cases in the country and has seen an increase in the number of cases filed relating to patent infringement, notably in the courts of Judge T. John Ward in the Marshall Division, Judge Leonard Davis in the Tyler Division, and Judge David Folsom in the Texarkana Division and now Judge J. Rodney Gilstrap in the Marshall Division and Judge Robert W. Schroeder III in the Texarkana Division, as well as Magistrate Judges Roy S. Payne, John Love and K. Nicole Mitchell. Perhaps because the district has a set of local rules for patent cases and relatively fast trial settings, patent plaintiffs have flocked to this small venue. In addition the proximity to larger cities (such as Dallas and Houston), along with a jury pool interested in protecting property rights, may attract patent cases to Marshall, Tyler, and Texarkana.

In 2003, there were 14 patent cases filed. In 2004, this number more than quadrupled to 59 patent cases filed. In 2006, the number of cases grew to an estimated 236.[5]

The district has been perceived to be a favorable jurisdiction for plaintiffs in patent infringement lawsuits, which win 88% of the time compared to a nationwide average of 68% in 2006,[6] even, according to some claims, in dubious cases (i.e. patent trolls).[7]

Between 2004 and 2011 the district presided over TiVo Inc. v. EchoStar Corp., involving the issues of patent infringement and contempt of court.

In 2009 Judge Leonard Davis, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, ordered a permanent injunction that "prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML," according to an announcement by the plaintiff, Toronto-based i4i Inc.[8]

In 2013, 24.5% of federal patent suits filed in the U.S. were filed in the Eastern District. Judges in this district have been found to grant requests for summary judgment of invalidity at a lower rate than the national average.[9]

In 2014, 1,425 patent suits in the U.S. were filed in the Eastern District, making it the number one region with the most filings in the country, followed by the United States District Court for the District of Delaware in second place, with 946 patent cases filed, with the United States District Court for the Central District of California ranking third with 305 cases.[10]

In 2015, a staggering 43.6% of federal patent suits (2,540 suits) were filed in the Eastern District, which was more than the number of lawsuits filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (545 cases or 9.3%), the United States District Court for the Central District of California (300 cases or 5.1%), the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (228 cases or 3.9%) and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (162 cases or 2.8%) combined.[11]

In 2016, 1,647 cases (or 36.4%) of the nation's patent cases were filed in the Eastern District, which was again more than the total number of lawsuits filed in the District of Delaware (455 cases or 10.1%), Central District of California (290 cases or 6.4%), Northern District of Illinois (247 cases or 5.5%) and Northern District of California (188 cases or 4.2%) combined.[12]

The vast majority of the patent cases in the Eastern District of Texas are filed before or heard in the Marshall, Texas division by District Court Judge James Rodney Gilstrap and Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne.[13] U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III in the Texarkana Division, and Magistrate Judges John Love and K. Nicole Mitchell hear the next highest number of patent cases in the District.

The filing of such cases in the Eastern District of Texas dropped after the 2017 Supreme Court decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, which held that for the purpose of venue in patent infringement suits, a domestic corporation "resides" only in its state of incorporation. Meanwhile, the filing of such cases in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware increased.[14]

Current judges

As of December 27, 2022:

# Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
27 Chief Judge J. Rodney Gilstrap Marshall 1957 2011–present 2018–present — Obama
25 District Judge Marcia A. Crone Beaumont 1952 2003–present — — G.W. Bush
28 District Judge Amos Mazzant Sherman 1965 2014–present — — Obama
29 District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III Texarkana 1966 2014–present — — Obama
30 District Judge Jeremy Kernodle Tyler 1976 2018–present — — Trump
31 District Judge J. Campbell Barker Tyler 1980 2019–present — — Trump
32 District Judge Michael J. Truncale Beaumont 1957 2019–present — — Trump
33 District Judge Sean D. Jordan Plano 1965 2019–present — — Trump
18 Senior Judge Richard A. Schell Plano 1950 1988–2015 1994–2001 2015–present Reagan
24 Senior Judge Ron Clark Beaumont 1953 2002–2018 2015–2018 2018–present G.W. Bush

Former judges

# Judge State Born–died Active service Chief Judge Senior status Appointed by Reason for
termination
1 John Charles Watrous TX 1801–1874 1857–1870[Note 1] — — Polk/Operation of law resignation
2 Joel C. C. Winch TX 1835–1880 1870–1871[Note 2] — — Grant not confirmed
3 Amos Morrill TX 1809–1884 1872–1883 — — Grant retirement
4 Chauncey Brewer Sabin TX 1824–1890 1884–1890 — — Arthur death
5 David Ezekiel Bryant TX 1849–1910 1890–1910 — — B. Harrison death
6 Gordon J. Russell TX 1859–1919 1910–1919 — — Taft death
7 William Lee Estes TX 1870–1930 1920–1930 — — Wilson death
8 Randolph Bryant TX 1893–1951 1931–1951 — — Hoover death
9 Joseph Warren Sheehy TX 1910–1967 1951–1967 1954–1967 — Truman death
10 Lamar John Ryan Cecil TX 1902–1958 1954–1958[Note 3] — — Eisenhower death
11 Joseph Jefferson Fisher TX 1910–2000 1959–1984 1967–1980 1984–2000 Eisenhower death
12 William Wayne Justice TX 1920–2009 1968–1998 1980–1990 1998–2009 L. Johnson death
13 William Steger TX 1920–2006 1970–1987 — 1987–2006 Nixon death
14 Robert Manley Parker TX 1937–2020 1979–1994 1990–1994 — Carter elevation to 5th Cir.
15 Howell Cobb TX 1922–2005 1985–2001 — 2001–2005 Reagan death
16 Sam B. Hall Jr. TX 1924–1994 1985–1994 — — Reagan death
17 Paul Neeley Brown TX 1926–2012 1985–2001 — 2001–2012 Reagan death
19 John H. Hannah Jr. TX 1939–2003 1994–2003 2001–2003 — Clinton death
20 David Folsom TX 1947–present 1995–2012 2009–2012 — Clinton retirement
21 Thad Heartfield TX 1940–2022 1995–2010 2003–2009 2010–2022 Clinton death
22 T. John Ward TX 1943–present 1999–2011 — — Clinton retirement
23 Leonard Davis TX 1948–present 2002–2015 2012–2015 — G.W. Bush retirement
26 Michael H. Schneider Sr. TX 1943–present 2004–2016 — 2016 G.W. Bush retirement
  1. ↑ Reassigned from the District of Texas.
  2. ↑ Recess appointment; the United States Senate later rejected the appointment.
  3. ↑ Recess appointment; formally nominated on November 8, 1954, confirmed by the Senate on December 2, 1954, and received commission on December 3, 1954.

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

See also

References

  1. ↑ "U.S. District Courts of Texas, Legislative history". Federal Judicial Center.
  2. ↑ 28 U.S.C. § 124: Judiciary and Judicial Procedure § 124. Texas
  3. ↑ "Southeast Archeological Center (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  4. ↑ "U.S. Department of Justice: 2002 Centennial Report, pgs. 1, 10" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  5. ↑ Creswell, Julie (24 September 2006). "So Small a Town, So Many Patent Suits". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  6. ↑ Williams, Sam. "A Haven for Patent Pirates".
  7. ↑ "Eastern District of Texas Project". Archived from the original on March 14, 2017.
  8. ↑ i4i Limited Partnership v. Microsoft Corporation 670 F. Supp. 2d 568
  9. ↑ "Why Do Patent Trolls Go to Texas? It's Not for the BBQ". Electronic Frontier Foundation. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  10. ↑ David Yates (April 2, 2015). "Eastern District of Texas No. 1 home for patent suits, report finds". Southeast Texas Record.
  11. ↑ Owen Byrd (January 7, 2016). "Lex Machina 2015 Year End Trends". Lex Machina.
  12. ↑ Owen Byrd (January 12, 2017). "2016 Fourth Quarter Litigation Update". Lex Machina. Note: In 2016 (by the third quarter), 1,195 cases (or 35.4%) of the nation's patent cases were filed in the Eastern District, which was again more than the total number of lawsuits filed in the District of Delaware (309 cases or 9.2%), Central District of California (243 cases or 7.2%), Northern District of Illinois (182 cases or 5.4%) and District of New Jersey (158 cases or 4.7%) combined. See Owen Byrd (October 11, 2016). "2016 Third Quarter Litigation Trends". Lex Machina.
  13. ↑ Kaleigh Rogers (May 5, 2016). "The Small Town Judge Who Sees a Quarter of the Nation's Patent Cases". Motherboard (Vice).
  14. ↑ Debra Cassens Weiss (July 19, 2017). "Patent lawsuits drop 21 percent in the Eastern District of Texas as SCOTUS ruling brings new era". ABA Journal.

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