The District of Massachusetts is considering an overhaul to its local rule for patent cases, changes that attorneys said would make litigation in the state more efficient and could encourage more patent owners to file lawsuits there.
About a year ago, judges in the district reached out to some local patent litigators and asked them to consider making some changes. McCarter & English LLP partner Erik Belt, who led the committee of lawyers that drafted the revisions in conjunction with judges, said the committee looked at practices in districts around the country and decided a new, more comprehensive rule was needed.
“We decided that what we needed here was a rewrite, to hit the reset button, if you will, and come up with a new rule rather than just make some small tweaks to the rule at the time,” he said.