AT&T has agreed to pay TiVo $215 million to settle two patent infringement suits over digital video recording technology after the companies entered into a patent licensing arrangement. A trial over TiVo’s infringement claims was scheduled to begin in the Eastern District of Texas on Jan. 9.

In the middle of a 24-page opinion chastising the way an attorney conducted himself during a deposition and how his co-counsel handled discovery, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled on a novel issue of law for the Eastern District, limiting the use of spousal privilege in federal cases.

Nonpracticing entities are rushing to file multidefendant patent infringement suits before President Obama signs patent reform legislation into law, and many of their targets are Silicon Valley companies. Not surprisingly, plaintiffs are filing most of the suits in the Eastern District of Texas.

A “hunch” was not a constitutionally justifiable basis on which to stop a car, an Eastern District of New York judge ruled Friday in a decision questioning the veracity of the three New York City officers who made the stop.

Despite failing to get its patent infringement case moved from the plaintiff-friendly Eastern District of Texas and a court order applying a rare infringement theory, Vistaprint’s defense team scored a defense victory in the district.