TC Heartland ruling can’t help HTC dismiss patent infringement case
An appeal by HTC to dismiss a patent infringement case on the grounds of improper venue in light of the TC Heartland v Kraft Foods ruling by the US Supreme Court has been rejected.
In July last year, software company InfoGation sued the phone manufacturer for unauthorised used of a patent in relation to navigation software on HTC’s smartphones.
The complaint was filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of California.
However, in a motion for dismissal filed last month, HTC claimed the TC Heartland ruling meant the venue was “improper”, as HTC doesn’t have an “established place of business” in California, so it can’t meet the requirements stated in the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“The Supreme Court recently held in TC Heartland that the patent venue statute requires that HTC America either be incorporated in California or have a regular and established place of business,” it stated in the motion.
In May, the Supreme Court tightened the rules on where a patent lawsuit can be filed, saying that a domestic corporation “resides” only in its state of incorporation for purposes of the patent venue statute.
HTC added that “the venue is improper and the cases against HTC America should be dismissed or, in the alternative, transferred”.
This was rejected on Thursday, July 6, by US District Judge Marilyn Huff, who stated that HTC waived any right to a venue challenge through its conduct in the litigation, despite the TC Heartland ruling.
“Filing a motion for judgment on the pleadings on the issue of invalidity prior to filing a motion to dismiss for improper venue constitutes a tacit admission on the part of the movant that the court has personal jurisdiction,” she stated.
HTC had filed a counterclaim that requested the invalidation of the patent.
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