On May 22, 2017, the Supreme Court issued a decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC on the hotly contested issue of patent venue reform. The patent venue statue provides two grounds for laying venue....more
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear argument in a case—TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Brands Group LLC, No. 16-341—that may lead to significant restrictions on where patent infringement cases can be filed. The Federal...more
The Federal Circuit, in In re: TC Heartland LLC (No. 2016-105), recently issued an opinion denying TC Heartland’s petition for a writ of mandamus to direct the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to either...more
With venue for patent cases being a subject of great debate across the nation, the Federal Circuit was asked to reconsider its position on the matter but ruled on April 29, 2016, to maintain the status quo. The current...more
"You Can Arrange the Menu, the Venue, the Seating" The above slightly-modified quote is from a lyric sung by Thomas Jefferson in the Tony-award nominated musical "Hamilton" (with apologies to Lin Manual Miranda) -- the...more
This March, three United States Senators introduced the “Venue Equity and Non-Uniformity Elimination Act of 2016.” The bill would dramatically narrow the venue statute that applies to patent cases and, it appears, prevent...more
On Friday, March 11, 2016, the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in In re TC Heartland, LLC on the issue of venue in patent cases in light of the Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 amendments...more
This month, both the Federal Circuit and the Senate Judiciary Committee took up the issue of “forum shopping” in patent infringement suits. Right now, a patent plaintiff can essentially file suit in the district court of its...more
It has become a patent litigation trope, discussed at every Silicon Valley water cooler, that patent litigation is broken because all patent cases are tried in the plaintiff-friendly Eastern District of Texas. While this...more