The Allocation of Jurisdiction Between State and Federal Courts in Patent Litigation

A proper jurisdictional balance between state and federal court systems has long been a goal of federal statutes granting jurisdiction over patent matters to the federal courts. Prompted by the recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Koratron Co. v. Deering Milliken, Inc., Professor Chisum considers the general problem of the jurisdiction of federal and state courts over cases concerning questions of federal law and then focuses on the specific problem of jurisdiction over cases involving federal patent law. The article begins with a discussion of the history of statutes granting patent jurisdiction to federal courts and concludes with an evaluation of the present division of jurisdiction in patent matters between state and federal courts.