Posts Tagged: "TC Heartland"

Federal Circuit Further Defines the Scope of Patent Venue

Recently, in In Re: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) further defined the level of control a defendant must exercise over an in-district agent to establish patent venue – i.e., where a case can be filed. The Federal Circuit held that the requisite control a principal must establish over its alleged agent in order to establish venue is “interim control”: day-to-day control over the manner of carrying out the specific actions for which the alleged agency relationship exists. Accordingly, in reversing the lower court, the Federal Circuit held that the dealerships in question were not agents of Hyundai or Volkswagen for the purposes of selling cars to consumers and providing warranty services. 

Are Machines ‘Agents’ for Purposes of the Patent Venue Statute? (Part I)

In its TC Heartland decision in 2017, the Supreme Court rejected the Federal Circuit’s interpretation of the patent venue law, and held that in order to bring a patent infringement lawsuit against a company in a given district, that company must either reside in that district or have a “regular and established place of business” and have committed an act of alleged infringement there. As expected, this has led to a decrease in the number of patent cases being filed in the Eastern District of Texas, and an increase in the number of cases being brought in other districts, including in the District of Delaware, where many companies are incorporated. The TC Heartland decision was welcome news to many companies that regarded the Eastern District of Texas as being pro-plaintiff. However, the TC Heartland decision has not stopped plaintiffs from seeking to push the envelope as to the meaning of a “regular and established place of business” in order to seek to establish venue in a more favorable venue. Indeed, according to the Q1 2020 Patent Dispute Report, the Western District of Texas has now apparently become the venue of choice for filing patent infringement actions and it is forecasted to surpass the District of Delaware for the most new filings in 2020. The report also included that this district has become the “preferred venue” for non-practicing entities to bring infringement actions and is on pace to have over 600 patent related cases, with NPEs comprising approximately 80% of all cases. While it is too soon to know if this part of a long-term trend, it does highlight the unsettled nature of patent venue law, and the likelihood that the Federal Circuit, and perhaps the Supreme Court, will have to provide additional guidance on this issue, and especially how technology may impact this review

Cray Wins Summary Judgment Against Raytheon Following Successful Venue Transfer Post-TC Heartland

On April 15, U.S. District Judge William Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin issued an opinion and order in Raytheon Company v. Cray, Inc. granting summary judgment of non-infringement to defendant Cray on two supercomputer patents that had been asserted by Raytheon. The order is the likely conclusion to a case that became an important part of the debate on proper venue in patent cases after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in TC Heartland, and aspects of how this case played out after venue was transferred point to the importance of that particular decision on U.S. patent litigation.

As the Climate for U.S. Patents Turns Brighter, Now is the Right Time to Invest in These Assets

The cost of obtaining a U.S. patent has not significantly changed for the past 10 years. This remarkable stability is confirmed by the AIPLA Economic Survey, our own fees, and our general knowledge of the market. The major costs for obtaining a U.S. patent include the drafting fee, the cost of responding to USPTO office actions and the USPTO fees. The first two fees have not increased in over 10 years for many firms and the government fees have increased but remain relatively low compared to the other fees. With respect to the price of issued patents, the 2018 IAM Benchmarking Survey points to a bear market for U.S. patents, which are “cheaper” year after year. A fall in prices is reported, with 24% of corporate respondents stating that patents are cheaper than a year ago; the previous year’s survey had 36% reporting a fall in prices. Such relatively stable cost and low price are disharmonious with the fact that a U.S. patent covers the largest market in the world—and a growing market. Despite a slight dip in 2009, the U.S. GDP has grown steadily for the past 20 years. Even if the recent volatility in the stock market is a sign of a difficult 2019, the long-term positive trend is likely to continue.

Patent Litigation Shows Shift Towards Delaware, Decrease in High-Volume Plaintiff Filings

Legal data analytics provider Lex Machina recently published a post featuring data points regarding the filing of patent infringement cases in the year following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands. In that decision, the Court held that the patent venue statute (28 U.S.C. § 1400(b)) meant that domestic companies could only file patent infringement suits in the judicial district where they were incorporated. Lex Machina’s one-year data update shows that TC Heartland has toppled the Eastern District of Texas as the top forum for patent infringement filings among U.S. district courts. The decision has also affected the filing behaviors of high-volume plaintiffs (HVPs), or those entities filing 10 or more patent infringement cases in U.S. district courts within one calendar year.