The Western District of Texas hears roughly a third of American patent litigation. Until 2018 it heard almost none.
The change traces to a single judge and a set of local rules. Judge Alan Albright, appointed in 2018 after a career as a patent litigator, adopted procedures designed to make his court attractive to plaintiffs: fast schedules, a reluctance to stay cases pending administrative review, and a standing order that made transfer motions difficult to win.
Plaintiffs responded as anyone would. Filings in Waco went from a handful a year to more than eight hundred, and the composition shifted toward entities whose business is licensing rather than making.
The Federal Circuit has intervened repeatedly, issuing an unusual number of mandamus orders directing transfer. The Judicial Conference adopted a random-assignment policy for patent cases in 2024. Filings dropped, then partially recovered as plaintiffs adjusted.
What makes this more than a venue story is what it does to product decisions. Companies facing a credible threat in a fast forum settle earlier and design more conservatively around contested claims. Ask a general counsel at a mid-size hardware company what shaped their last roadmap and the honest answer frequently involves a docket in central Texas.
None of this required legislation, rulemaking or a single appellate holding on the merits. It required one judge with a scheduling order and a plaintiffs’ bar paying attention.