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8 February 2017Patents

SCOTUS must restore fairness in patent court selection, says EFF

The US Supreme Court must end the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas’ grip on patent litigation, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

The plea to restore fairness in court selection forms part of the EFF’s amicus brief, filed this month, in the TC Heartland v Kraft Foods case.

In December last year, the Supreme Court granted TC Heartland’s writ of certiorari, which was filed in September.

Kraft sued at the US District Court for the District of Delaware and TC Heartland unsuccessfully asked the judge to transfer the case to the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

TC Heartland appealed against the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

This is not the first time the EFF has waded into the fray. When TC Heartland appealed, the EFF asked the court to change the rules surrounding where patent cases can be filed in order to limit the number of lawsuits at the Eastern District of Texas, a popular destination for patent claims.

But in April last year, WIPR reported that the appeals court denied TC Heartland’s petition for a writ of mandamus.

The EFF’s latest brief urged the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, which it claimed “tilted the scales in favour of patent trolls by making it easier for them to venue shop and file lawsuits in certain courts”.

It added that venue-shopping is an “insidious practice” and that some courts have engaged in an “even more insidious practice” known as forum-selling—actively encouraging patent lawsuits in their districts.

“One such court is the Eastern District of Texas, a rural area with almost no manufacturing, research or technology facilities, where more than one-third of all patent cases in the country were filed last year,” said the EFF.

Vera Ranieri, staff attorney at the EFF, added: “The Supreme Court can fix a rampant problem in patent law and make the process more fair and balanced. As it stands, many defendants can be hauled into court in any corner of the country, regardless of whether the location has anything to do with either party.”

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More on this story

Patents
15 December 2016   The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal concerning restrictions on where patent claims can be filed.
Patents
3 November 2015   The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked a US appeals court to change the rules surrounding where patent cases can be filed in a bid to limit the number of lawsuits being filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Patents
13 February 2017   The attorney general of Texas has urged the US Supreme Court to end the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas’ hold on patent litigation.