WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court could make it easier for companies to defend themselves against patent infringement lawsuits.
The justices said last Wednesday they will decide whether such lawsuits can be filed in any court in the country — as they are now — or be limited to courts that are more convenient for corporate defendants.
The issue is important to many companies that complain about plaintiffs “forum shopping” for favorable courts. More than 40 percent of patent lawsuits are now filed in eastern Texas courts, where local rules favor quick trials and juries can be more sympathetic to plaintiffs.
The justices will hear an appeal from TC Heartland, an Indiana-based food sweetener company sued by Kraft Foods in Delaware. Lower courts refused to transfer the case to Indiana.
- Posted December 19, 2016
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Supreme Court justices to weigh limits on where patent lawsuits are filed
headlines Oakland County
- Judge’s memorial unveiled
- Bring ’em to Ingham? Not necessarily, Supreme Court rules of lawsuits state files
- Nessel secures preliminary injunction protecting USDA funding
- Final judgment secured in lawsuit challenging administration’s $100k tax for H-1B visas
- Woman sentenced for distributing child porn, prosecutor disappointed with sentence imposed
headlines National
- Bill Kurtis’ memoir tells how law school trained him for covering trials
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Justice Barrett’s home targeted in attempted swatting call
- Texting-and-driving charges dropped against woman without right hand
- Fender warns guitar makers to stop producing Stratocaster look-a-likes
- General counsel compensation climbs, aligned with equity and company scale
