In a highly anticipated opinion that many observers expect will have a significant impact on patent litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a domestic corporation resides only in its state of incorporation for purposes of patent venue. The ruling reverses long-standing Federal Circuit precedent that interpreted “resides” in the patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. Section 1400(b), to confer venue in nearly any forum where a defendant was subject to personal jurisdiction. Now, a defendant in a patent infringement action may be sued only in the defendant’s state of incorporation or where the defendant has “a regular and established place of business” and also committed acts of infringement.
Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the 8-0 opinion reversing and remanding the matter. The Supreme Court first traced the path of patent venue law back to the Judiciary Act of 1789 as “important context.” The Supreme Court analyzed how the first patent venue statute “was adopted to define the exact jurisdiction of the federal courts in actions to enforce patent rights, a purpose that would be undermined by interpreting it to dovetail with the general provisions relating to the venue of civil suits.” Early interpretations of the law held that “the patent venue statute alone should control venue in patent infringement proceedings.”
