TC Heartland Complicates Venue For Foreign Defendants

By Joseph Re and Perry Oldham ( June 29, 2017, 12:34 PM EDT) -- Earlier this month, IP Law360 published an article recognizing that foreign companies may challenge venue in patent infringement suits after the U.S. Supreme Court's May 22, 2017, decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC. The Supreme Court expressly noted that it was not deciding the implications of its ruling with regard to foreign defendants. However, the Supreme Court's ruling that the more restrictive patent venue statute (§ 1400(b)) should stand on its own is in tension with the long-standing rule in the general venue statute (§ 1391) that venue over foreign defendants can be in any judicial district. This tension will cause foreign defendants sued for patent infringement to challenge venue whenever they are sued in districts where they do not have a "regular and established place of business," as required by § 1400(b). This article outlines that argument....

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