The Court now has a default Protective Order for patent cases. The PO can be found under "Courtroom Guidance" on the Court's website HERE.
Prior to this default protective order, Judge Albright had previously recommended that the parties use the default EDTX protective order as a starting point. The new Waco Division default protective order is similar to the EDTX order, with a few additions.
Most notably, the Waco Division PO includes both a "CONFIDENTIAL - OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" designation as well as a "CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" designation.
The past year and a half has been filled with speculation as to whether Waco would become the next Marshall, or whether the hype would die down and people would only remember the town for Fixer Upper.
Now that Waco has actually established itself as a patent litigation hotbed, it is important to see what makes the Waco Division unique when trying a patent case. Specific areas of these rules, practices, and procedures will be examined in greater detail in future posts, but here are some of the highlights:
Local Rules and Standing Orders:
A quick Ctrl+F in the Local Court Rules of the Western ...
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With over 50 years of combined experience with federal court practice in the Western District, our team boasts former federal clerks and outstanding litigators with unrivaled experience in local federal litigation. Our contributors are all located in the Waco office of Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee. With an office just blocks from the Waco courthouse, we have our finger on the pulse of the emerging patent litigation practice in the Waco Division of the Western District, and we want to share that expertise with you.