The U.S. Supreme Court is about to resolve this question in the case TC Heartland, LLC v. Kraft Food Brands Group LLC (Case No. 16-341). The patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), states that patent infringement actions “may be brought in the judicial district where the defendant resides.” However, 28 U.S.C. § 1391 provides that "an entity with the capacity to ... be sued in its common name under applicable law, whether or not incorporated, shall be deemed to reside, if a defendant, in any judicial district in which such defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to the civil action in question." Thus, according to the latter statutory provision, defendants can be sued in multiple districts.
Having to defend against a lengthy patent infringement suit is already expensive enough. However, if defendants can be sued out of state, this will have far reaching consequences. This is therefore a case to take careful note of. More information on this case can be found at the link below:
http://www.ficlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IP-Litigator_Cox-Article.pdf
Having to defend against a lengthy patent infringement suit is already expensive enough. However, if defendants can be sued out of state, this will have far reaching consequences. This is therefore a case to take careful note of. More information on this case can be found at the link below:
http://www.ficlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IP-Litigator_Cox-Article.pdf
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