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ARTICLE · 02 APRIL 2019

The Ongoing Evolution Of Patent Venue

For over 20 years, venue in a patent case was proper in essentially any court in the United States. That all changed in May 2017 when the Supreme Court held in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Grp.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP
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A refresher and update on the ongoing evolution of what constitutes proper venue in a patent case.

For over 20 years, venue in a patent case was proper in essentially any court in the United States. That all changed in May 2017 when the Supreme Court held in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Grp. Brands, LLC that 28 U.S.C. §1400(b) is the sole and exclusive venue provision for patent infringement actions, and cannot be supplemented by the general venue statute at 28 U.S.C. §1391.1 Under §1400(b), venue for a U.S. company is proper in the judicial district where the defendant (1) resides or (2) has committed acts of patent infringement and has a regular and established place of business. The plaintiff has the burden of establishing that venue is proper.2

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