There’s zero excess capacity---patent cases are maxed out
Sapna Kumar 21, Law Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, “Judging Patents”, William & Mary Law Review, 62 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 871, February 2021, Lexis
A related problem is that under the current U.S. system, several district courts hear a high volume of patent cases and are overloaded with work. After the Supreme Court's decision regarding venue in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, patent litigation soared in the District of Delaware, Central District of California, and Northern District of California. Yet, judicial appointments and new judgeships have not kept pace in these [*917] courts. This has led to overburdened judges turning to creative strategies to keep up with their growing patent dockets, such as staying cases while the PTAB undertakes inter partes review.