Farewell to Texas? Supreme Court Limits Where Alleged Patent Infringers Can Be Sued

For a number of years, patent owners have had broad discretion to bring patent infringement lawsuits in court locations, or “venues,” based on perceived strategic advantages and their own convenience.  A federal district court in eastern Texas, for example, has – for several reasons – been one of the favorite venues for patent owners.  Another favored jurisdiction, perceived as “plaintiff-friendly,” is the District of Delaware.

Courts have upheld patent plaintiffs’ choices of venue even when the alleged infringer’s only connection to the chosen locale was that the defendant sold some allegedly infringing products there.  The inconvenience of litigating in a jurisdiction far from the defendants’ home, along with other perceived plaintiff-friendly aspects of certain courts, has often provided significant leverage to patent plaintiffs.

No longer.  In TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, LLC, No. 16-341, the United States Supreme Court limited patent plaintiffs to filing suit where the defendant is incorporated or where the defendant both has a “regular and established place of business” and also infringed the patent at issue.

In TC Heartland, Kraft alleged that TC Heartland – a manufacturer of flavored drink mixes – infringed one of Kraft’s patents.  Kraft sued TC Heartland for patent infringement in federal court in Delaware.  TC Heartland was an Indiana company headquartered in Indiana.  Its only connection to Delaware was that it sold product there.

Under the patent venue statute, a patent infringement case may be brought in a district where the defendant “resides” or where the defendant has infringed the patent and has a “regular and established place of business.”  Kraft did not contend that TC Heartland had a regular and established place of business in the District of Delaware.  Instead, Kraft argued that “resides” means anywhere the defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction.  Kraft relied on the federal statute that provides the general rule for venue choices in non-patent cases.  In an 8-0 decision delivered by Justice Thomas, the Supreme Court rejected the argument that the general venue statute should be used to interpret the patent venue statute and held that the word “resides” in the patent venue statute, as applied to U.S. corporations, means only the state where they are incorporated.

After TC Heartland, patent holders will be limited to filing suit: (1) in the state of the alleged infringer’s incorporation; or (2) the state where the infringer committed an infringing act and has a regular, established place of business.  The decision removes one of the tools in a patent plaintiff’s shed to bring additional pressure against alleged infringers, and plaintiffs will have to refrain from filing lawsuit in state’s that have a tangential relationship to the defendant’s home jurisdictions.