There's not much upon which I agree with the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). So, consider me a little surprised (and somewhat suspicious) that the group has filed an amicus brief suggesting that the East Texas docket is handling too many patent cases and hasn't transferred cases that clearly should be transferred. This is a similar issue to a ruling we recently noted at the appeals court level pushing for easier transfer of cases to more convenient locations. While it's nice to see the AIPLA come out and basically admit that patent holders have been forum shopping and abusing the court system to get favorable rulings, the cynic in me says that they're doing this as a way to tell Congress that patent reform isn't needed (since forum shopping is one aspect of patent reform under consideration).

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