The Federal Circuit’s decision in In re HTC Corp., 889 F.3d 1349 (Fed. Cir. 2018), considered whether the TC Heartland decision extended to foreign defendants to afford them the protections of the special patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b). By finding that no such protections existed, the Federal Circuit reaffirmed the longstanding rule that suits against foreign (alien) defendants “are wholly outside the operation of all the federal venue laws, general and special.” HTC, 889 F.3d at 1354 (citing Brunette Machine Works, Ltd. v. Kockum Industries, Inc., 406 U.S. 706, 714 (1972)). While foreign defendants can still try to persuade a district court judge to transfer a case to a new venue on the basis of the parties’ convenience, the venue laws otherwise offer no protection for foreign defendants.
Recent Posts
- Celebrating World IP Day: Is the Innovative Future Sustainable?
- The Rise of IP Lawsuits When Posting Images: How to Navigate and Avoid Copyright Infringement Issues
- The SEP Couch: Lyse Brillouet on Managing SEPs and Open Standards
- Unveiling The Untapped Potential of Brazil’s Solar Energy Market
- AI Armor: Learn How to Harness AI to Invest in Your Company’s Future