In 2011, Congress launched the patent pilot program to streamline patent litigation. Out of all the federal district courts in the United States, fourteen (14) federal district courts were nominated to participate in a 10-year pilot project calculated to augment expertise in patent cases among United States District Court judges. The pilot program was mandated by Pub. L. No. 111-349 effectuated in July, 2011.
To be eligible to participate, courts had to be among the 14 district courts in which the largest number of patent and plant variety protections cases were filed in 2010. Alternatively, it could be one of the district courts that adopted or certified to the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) with the purpose to espouse local rules for patent and plant variety protection cases.
The Southern District of Florida was one of the fourteen (14) district courts selected. Soon thereafter, the Patent Pilot Program was administratively entered on June 20, 2011 by then-Chief Judge Federico A. Moreno for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.