Roy S. Payne

Judge Roy S. Payne: A Profile for Patent Litigants

Date: 2026-04-30

Roy S. Payne is a United States Magistrate Judge in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas, a court renowned for its heavy patent docket. He was first appointed to this position on December 28, 2011. Judge Payne has extensive prior judicial experience, having served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Louisiana from 1987 to 2005. His career also includes time in private practice, where he handled commercial litigation, and a clerkship for a U.S. District Judge in the Western District of Louisiana. He holds a J.D. from Louisiana State University Law School and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

Judge Payne presides over one of the busiest patent dockets in the country. For several years, he and District Judge Rodney Gilstrap have handled a significant percentage of all patent cases filed nationwide. Analyses have consistently ranked him among the top federal judges for the number of new patent cases and for conducting a high volume of Markman claim construction hearings. His docket frequently features cases involving complex technology in areas such as telecommunications and computer security. Judge Payne is known for the view that questions of patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (Alice) are often intertwined with claim construction, making pre-Markman dismissals on these grounds the exception rather than the rule.

In his role as a magistrate judge, Judge Payne manages pretrial proceedings and issues reports and recommendations on dispositive motions, which are then reviewed by the presiding district judge, often Judge Gilstrap. One notable example is his report in Howlink Global LLC v. AT&T and Verizon Wireless, where his finding of prosecution history estoppel on a key claim term was adopted by Judge Gilstrap, leading to a judgment of non-infringement for the defendants. He also recently handled numerous summary judgment motions in the dispute between Entropic Communications, LLC and Charter Communications, Inc. before the parties settled. His rulings often address intricate discovery disputes and motions to amend invalidity contentions.

Regarding local procedures, Judge Payne has adopted the sample forms for patent cases, including the standard Protective Order and Docket Control Order, used by Judge Rodney Gilstrap. These orders, along with the Eastern District's local patent rules, govern the progression of cases before him, setting deadlines for infringement and invalidity contentions, discovery, and claim construction briefing. Litigants should also be aware of his specific standing orders, which are available on the court's website and cover topics such as the submission of letter briefs and procedures for civil actions assigned to him.