Supreme Court Decision Alert - May 22, 2017

Today, the Supreme Court issued two decisions, described below, of interest to the business community.

• Patent Act—Venue
• Hague Service Convention—International Service of Process

Patent Act—Venue

TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Brands Group LLC, No. 16-341

The patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), permits a patent infringement action to be brought "in the judicial district where the defendant resides."  Although the Supreme Court held in 1957 that § 1400(b) was exclusive and that a corporate defendant "resides," for these purposes, only where it is incorporated, the Federal Circuit held in 1990 that amendments to the general venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391, had changed the venue calculus in patent cases.  The Federal Circuit's approach provided plaintiffs with far greater flexibility in selecting a venue, which resulted in a disproportionate share of patent infringement actions being filed in judicial districts (like the U.S. District Court for