Trial Dates & Backward Looking Stats Unreliable?

This past November, Senator Tillis has cautioned the agency that “it is difficult to imagine any plausible justification for the continued reliance on the demonstrably inaccurate trial dates set by the Waco Division.” Fintiv practices have remained unchanged since that time.

More recently, the WDTX had occasion to consider the competing schedule of another forum. Finding that the WDTX was faster, it looked to the realities of the other forum’s scheduling.

In an Order dated May 16th (here), Judge Albright denied a transfer of venue on a number of factors, but in doing so, highlighted the use of the average time to trial as the most meaningful comparison between forums. In doing so, considered that this time can be adversely impacted by a busy docket, and COVID delays, explaining:

[Defendant] argues that the time to trial is comparable—25.9 moths for NDCA versus 25.3 months for WDTX. However, [defendant] relies on out-of-date statistics in a decision from 2020, before the NDCA felt the full impact of halting trials due to COVID-19. More recent statistics show that the average time to trial in patent cases in the NDCA is now 45.2 months. (emphasis added)

As we await expected changes to Fintiv, average time to trial seems overdue.