Assuming the litigation takes place in federal district court, the Ninth Circuit should continue to be the primary go-to circuit, with its Northern District Court and Central District Court seeing the most action. The Eastern District of Texas should continue to be a favored forum for patentees. However, this forum's shine should diminish somewhat as trial dates are being pushed farther into the future due to backlogs, coupled with the knowledge that at least some defendants are coming away victorious, as evidenced by recent summary judgment motions in favor of the accused infringer and jury findings of invalidity. Indeed, at trial, the patentee's win rate for 2007 is 33 percent. More suits are also expected to be filed in the increasingly popular, speedy Western District of Wisconsin. The Northern District of Texas, Northern District of Georgia and Western District of Pennsylvania, each of which has now enacted local patent rules, should also see increased filings."

I would hope that DM will continue to file suits in those areas mentioned, not wait for the trial or settlement of the initial filing. By filing in each of the other popular locations, they may get a general idea of their expected success rate and time required for resolution.

Why not utilize different locations for each major market segment and plan future stragegies based on actual or expected results. Since they are dealing with 100 companies, multiple lawsuits will eventually come into play with time being an important factor.

The next 6 months should provide an insight into their lawsuit strategy.