Susan M Brnovich

Judge Susan M. Brnovich: Patent Litigation Profile

Judicial Overview

Judge Susan M. Brnovich is a United States District Judge for the District of Arizona. She was nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 23, 2018, and confirmed by the Senate on October 11, 2018. She received her judicial commission on October 23, 2018. Prior to her federal appointment, Judge Brnovich had an extensive career in Arizona's state courts. She served as a judge on the Maricopa County Superior Court from 2009 to 2018, handling civil, family, criminal, and juvenile matters. Before becoming a judge, she was a commissioner for the Maricopa County Superior Court from 2003 to 2009 and a deputy county attorney in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office from 1995 to 2003. Judge Brnovich earned her J.D., M.S. in Business, and B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Patent Docket

As a district court judge, Judge Brnovich handles a wide range of civil and criminal matters, and her patent docket is still developing. The District of Arizona is not a traditional patent litigation hotspot, and individual judges often have a varied and non-specialized caseload. The district does not have its own local patent rules, but some judges have adopted their own standing orders for patent cases. Publicly available documents do not indicate that Judge Brnovich has issued specific standing orders for patent cases, suggesting she manages them under the standard Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the District of Arizona's local rules.

Notable Rulings or Trends

While Judge Brnovich has not yet presided over a large volume of patent disputes, her rulings in other complex civil litigation may offer insight into her judicial approach. In a recent securities fraud class action, she granted a motion to dismiss but allowed the plaintiffs an opportunity to amend their complaint, advising them to avoid "puzzle pleading" and to clearly connect factual allegations to the elements of each claim. In a case involving an Arizona statute related to auto dealer management systems, her denial of a preliminary injunction was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit, which found the state law was not preempted by federal copyright law. Her husband, Mark Brnovich, was the former Attorney General of Arizona.

Local Rules and Procedures

The District of Arizona has not adopted a specific set of local patent rules. Litigants in Judge Brnovich's court should follow the Local Rules of Civil Procedure for the District of Arizona and the judge's standard orders. Judge Brnovich's individual page on the court's website provides forms for pretrial statements and guidelines for jury instructions in civil cases, but no specific patent-related orders are listed. Parties in patent cases before her should expect to follow standard federal and local civil procedure, with case-specific schedules and requirements established through Rule 16 scheduling orders.