U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, part of the Fifth Circuit, has emerged as a significant venue for patent litigation. The Western District of Texas covers a broad region, with its Waco Division historically attracting a substantial portion of national patent filings. From 2020-2022, the court, particularly the Waco Division, handled approximately a fifth to a quarter of all U.S. patent cases, making it one of the busiest patent litigation hubs in the country. However, a July 2022 order by Chief Judge Orlando Garcia implemented random assignment of new Waco patent cases among twelve judges in the district, significantly altering the division's patent caseload dynamics.

The court's Waco Division gained a reputation as a "rocket docket" due to its fast-paced and predictable scheduling, aiming for trials significantly faster than many other districts. It has often been perceived as a plaintiff-friendly venue, partly attributed to its speedy trial system and a historical reluctance to grant motions to transfer cases out of the district. This practice led to several rebukes and mandamus rulings from the Federal Circuit regarding transfer denials. The median time-to-trial for patent cases in the Western District of Texas is approximately 24.2 months for jury trials and 23.9 months for bench trials. Patent holders have shown a higher success rate with juries (74%) compared to bench trials (52%) in trials within patent cases generally.

While the Western District of Texas does not have district-wide local patent rules, the Waco Division's patent practice was largely guided by detailed standing orders, notably Judge Alan Albright's "Standing Order Governing Proceedings (OGP)—Patent Cases." These orders outline specific procedures for patent cases, including mandatory early disclosure of infringement and invalidity contentions, presumptive limits on venue and jurisdictional discovery (e.g., five interrogatories, ten requests for production, and ten hours of deposition testimony), and a structured claim construction process. Claim construction briefing is non-simultaneous, and Judge Albright's practice included presumptive limits on the number of terms to be construed (e.g., 10 terms per side for one or two patents).

Among the six cases tracked here, examples include Linfo IP, LLC v. Vuori, Inc. (active), ParkerVision, Inc. v. MediaTek Inc. et al. (active), and Netlist, Inc. v. Micron Technology, Inc. (stayed). Notable rulings have included a $2.1 billion jury verdict against Intel (though Intel later won a second trial), and a reported trend of denying motions to invalidate patents on eligibility grounds. More recently, in January/February 2026, the court issued an antisuit injunction in Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft v. Onesta, LLC, preventing a patent holder from asserting U.S. patents in German court.

The most prominent patent judge in the Waco Division has been Judge Alan D. Albright, appointed in 2018. Before the July 2022 reassignment order, cases filed in Waco were almost exclusively assigned to him, making his court a primary destination for patent plaintiffs. Judge Albright is reportedly transferring to the Austin Division in August 2026. Currently, Judge Derek T. Gilliland also handles patent cases within the Waco Division. Following the random assignment order, other judges in the Western District, such as Judge David Counts in the Midland-Odessa Division, have seen an increase in patent filings, partly by adopting similar patent-specific standing orders.