EARLIER this month and also last month we wrote about an effort to restrict patent trolls from taking their cases (or dragging defendants/victims) to 'friendly' courts, notably courts in the Eastern District of Texas where the majority of patent cases are now being filed. Well, sadly enough, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has just sided with the trolls (inaction is taking a side in this case), just as it sided with software patents proponents several decades ago, opening the floodgates to almost a million more (patent trolls typically uses these).
"This will hopefully be escalated to the Supreme Court..."Professor Mark Lemley wrote that the "Federal Circuit won't restrict forum shopping in patent cases. Next stops -- the Supreme Court and Congress. http://src.bna.com/exf" (EFF is named in the cited PDF). Here is the statement issued by the EFF only hours ago:
In a disappointing but unsurprising ruling, the Federal Circuit confirmed today that patent owners essentially have free rein to file suit in any tiny corner of the country, regardless of its minimal connection to the patent owner, the alleged infringer, or the technology involved.
The case is In re TC Heartland. The alleged infringer, TC Heartland, was sued by Kraft in Delaware. TC Heartland asked the Federal Circuit, through a petition for writ of mandamus, to find that the case couldn’t be heard there, according to laws regarding “venue.”