patent infringement suit Archives

Jan 10, 2018

For 2017, The Supreme Court Flips the Two Busiest Patent Venues

For years, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas and the District of Delaware have seen the most patent infringement cases filed by far over the several other courts spread throughout the United States. Texas led Delaware for years, based in part on a perceived bias in favor of plaintiffs, particularly small ones – including those disparagingly referred to as “trolls” – when going against large, multi-national defendants. It was also generally accepted as true that the judges in Texas were reluctant to grant motions to transfer. This led to tensions, which boiled over into angry resentment… Read more

May 25, 2017

Supreme Court Clarifies the Meaning of the Patent Venue Statute

On May 22, 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in TC Heartland, LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, LLC. The Court reaffirmed its 1957 decision in Fourco Glass Co. v. Transmirra Products Corp., 353 U.S. 222, 226 (1957) and held that under the patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. §1400(b), a domestic corporation “resides” only in its State of incorporation. In so ruling, the Court rejected the broader interpretation of the patent venue statute that the Federal Circuit has been applying for more than 25 years. 28 U.S.C. §1400(b) provides: “Any civil action for patent infringement may be… Read more

May 10, 2017

The On-Sale Bar for Patents Could be Available for Private Sales under AIA

Last week, in Helsinn Healthcare SA v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) ruled that the America Invents Act’s on-sale bar provision renders patents invalid if the invention was sold prior to patenting, even if the sale did not publicly disclose the invention. The on-sale bar invalidates a patent if the claimed invention is sold more than a year prior to the filing of the patent application. Prior to the AIA, federal courts held that all sales, confidential and public, triggered the on-sale bar. The AIA, effective on patents filed after March 16,… Read more