William F. Smith: “H.R. 5418, a bill ``[t]o Establish a Pilot Program in Certain United States District Courts to Encourage Enhancement of…”

“H.R. 5418, a bill ``[t]o Establish a Pilot Program in Certain United States District Courts to Encourage Enhancement of Expertise in Patent Cases Among District Judges,'' deserves the support of the Members of the House. For the past 2 years, the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property has conducted a thorough review of problems associated with the issuance of patents and the adjudication of patent claims. H.R. 5418 focuses on one aspect of patent litigation--the recognition that judges are too often inexperienced in dealing with technical areas of the law and that they rarely have the opportunity to have a patent case go all the way through trial. Patent cases equal only 1 percent of cases filed in U.S. District Courts but are responsible for nearly 10 percent of complex cases. On average, an individual federal judge has only 1 patent case go all the way through trial every 7 years, which means trial-level judges may have no more than 3 or 4 such cases over their entire judicial career. These statistics suggest judges could benefit from the development of greater expertise and that they might develop this ability by handling these cases, which are so vital to American companies. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us is designed to enable designated federal judges to have the opportunity to enhance their expertise in handling these cases and to measure the effects, if any, on patent litigation.”