Delaware courts are known for their experience in handling business litigation.  The Delaware Court of Chancery, for example, is a leading forum for settling major corporate disputes.  That Court also provides a unique mediation program, overseen by a chancellor of the court, for resolving “Technology Dispute” confidentially.  This mediation program is  voluntary and is open to parties and disputes meeting certain statutory criteria (hyperlink to criteria).

 

Delaware’s status as home to many corporations, its well-developed corporate law and its geographic accessibility  from major East Coast population centers are among factors leading to litigants’ preference for Delaware courts.

 

For patent litigation, one or both parties often prefer the U.S. District Court for Delaware over district courts in most other jurisdictions because of Delaware’s experienced judges and their familiarity with patents and patent cases.  Delaware district court judges handle more patent cases per judge than any other district in the country.  More importantly, they are known for their fairness and for their efficient procedures for handling patent cases.  The competency of Delaware judges in handling patent cases is  evidenced by the proportion of their patent decisions that are affirmed versus those which are reversed or remanded.  In one recent year, that affirmance rate was nearly 50% versus less than 40% for the average of all other district courts and for several other courts known for their patent litigation docket.

 

Bios of the Delaware District Court judges ,as well as the Court’s rules and copies of the decisions of each of its judges are available on the Court’s website (US DC DE court website).  Bios for the chancellors and information relating to the Delaware Court of Chancery are available at its website (hyperlink).

 

Possibly to a greater extent than in any other district, the U.S. District Court for Delaware requires all counsel to be familiar with local rules and procedures and insists that Delaware counsel be fully involved in all litigation matters, rather than merely acting as “local counsel.”  Several of RatnerPrestia’s attorneys (RP DE attorneys) fulfill this requirement, acting either as lead counsel or as co-counsel for out of state attorneys; in all cases complemented by the firm’s intellectual property expertise. 

 

For recent patent decisions of special interest, see (special interest, DE patent decisions).