Rod was a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Delaware from March of 1992 to June of 2002. During his ten years on the bench, he presided over 100 trials, including over 30 patent infringement trials. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Rod practiced law as a commercial litigator. He has extensive trial and appellate experience, and is currently a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University School of Law, teaching a course on patent enforcement. He recently completed service as President of the Giles Sutherland Rich American Inn of Court and as Co-Chair of the National Academies' Committee on Intellectual Property Rights in Genomic and Protein Related Inventions.