US eyes patent venue bill to curb forum-shopping
A bill aimed at curbing forum-shopping in patent lawsuits has been introduced to the US Senate.
The Venue Equity and Non-Uniformity Elimination Act ( Venue Act), introduced by Senator Jeff Flake on Thursday, March 17, would require the plaintiff in a patent suit to file its claim in a reasonable district to which it has a valid connection.
Under the bill, a plaintiff would be required to sue in a place where its principle place of business is, where it has a working manufacturing facility, or where the patent’s inventors live.
It would also allow the parties to mutually agree to a particular district.
The bill has been introduced to try to limit examples of ‘forum shopping’, where plaintiffs pick venues based on whether they may get a favourable outcome.
Recently, WIPR reported on the increasing caseload at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Seen by many as a patent-friendly court, it has seen plaintiffs flock to the venue in recent years. Last year, the court heard nearly half of all US patent-related disputes.
The bill has already won the support of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF has set up a petition calling for the bill to be approved.
“For years, we’ve fought for meaningful patent litigation reform in Congress. The Venue Act is not the comprehensive reform we need, but we can’t keep waiting while unfair procedural rules put innovators and small businesses at an unfair disadvantage. Let’s tell Congress to pass the Venue Act now,” the EFF said in a statement.
