The State of “Regular and Established Place of Business” in the District of Delaware

TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Group Brands LLC has created more questions about venue than it answered (although it obviously answered a very important one), and one significant new question is, what constitutes a “regular and established place of business” under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b). Chief Judge Stark recently attempted to answer that question

Fed. Cir. denies mandamus in EDTX venue dispute

On May 5th, the Federal Circuit denied Microsoft’s mandamus petition to force the transfer of a case filed by PersonalWeb Technologies, LLC against it in the Eastern District of Texas. Microsoft asserted that District Court Judge Leonard Davis abused his discretion in denying the transfer where a similar request by Apple resulted in the transfer

Chief Justice Finds Generics’ Entry Into Drug Maker’s Exclusive Market Does Not Pose Threat of Irreparable Harm

It is rarely in doubt that a drug-maker has the right to bar generic entry into an exclusive market when the drug-maker’s patent is found valid and infringed by a generic applicant, or when such a finding is deemed reasonably likely by the court. For this reason, it is somewhat surprising that Chief Judge Roberts

“Conditional counterclaims” against DJ plaintiff/supplier insufficient to create jurisdiction, according to Federal Circuit

In Microsoft Corporation v. DataTern, Inc., the Federal Circuit made clear that conditional counterclaims and conditional statements of infringement alleged against a declaratory judgment plaintiff are insufficient to establish declaratory judgment jurisdiction. The Court noted, “[a] declaratory judgment plaintiff must plead facts sufficient to establish jurisdiction at the time of the complaint, and post-complaint facts

Breaking News: Federal Circuit Affirms Cybor’s De Novo Review of Claim Construction

The Federal Circuit has issued its highly-anticipated decision in Lighting Ballast Control LLC v. Philips Electronics North America Corp., 2012-1014 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 21, 2014). The en banc decision of Chief Judge Rader and Judges Newman, Lourie, Dyk, Prost, Moore, O’Malley, Reyna, Wallach, and Taranto holds that the de novo standard of review should continue

Supreme Court reiterates that a forum-selection clause should be “given controlling weight in all but the most exceptional cases.”

In Atlantic Marine Const. Co., Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Court for Western Dist. of Texas, 571 U. S. _ (2013), 2013 WL 6231157 (December 3, 2013), the Supreme Court not only reiterated that a valid forum selection clause must be given controlling weight, with rare exception – when considering a transfer motion under a 1404

The Federal Circuit Advisory Council adopts Model Order Limiting Excess Patent Claims and Prior Art

The Federal Circuit Advisory Council announced today its adoption of a Model Order Limiting Excess Patent Claims and Prior Art. The Council offered the Model Order “to aid trial courts in the exercise of their discretion in crafting orders tailored to the facts and circumstances of each case.” In adopting the Order, the Council considered

Federal Circuit holds that it may entertain appeals from patent liability determinations in bifurcated trials, confirms acceptability of bifurcation of liability from damages and willfulness issues

Today the Federal Circuit held that the Court has jurisdiction to entertain appeals from determinations on patent infringement liability where damages and/or willfulness issues have yet to be decided due to bifurcation. Robert Bosch, LLC v. Pylon Manufacturing Corp., No. 2011-1363, -1364, at 26-27 (Fed. Cir. June 14. 2013). As discussed here, the Federal Circuit

Supreme Court: Mere isolation of naturally occurring DNA segment is not patent eligible. AMP v Myriad Genetics, 569 U.S. _ (June 13, 2013)

The U.S. Supreme Court’s much anticipated decision in Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., et al., 569 U.S. ___, issued June 13, 2013. In short, the Supreme Court analyzed whether an isolated DNA sequence is patent eligible in light of the fundamental principle that laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract

Federal Circuit to consider issue of whether it has jurisdiction to hear appeal in case bifurcating liability and damages

Today, the Federal Circuit announced that the appeal from Judge Robinson’s decision in Robert Bosch LLC v. Pylon Mfg. Corp., C.A. No. 08-542 (D. Del. 2012) (the Court’s post-trial opinion is discussed here), will be heard en banc to determine whether the Federal Circuit has jurisdiction “to entertain appeals from patent infringement liability determinations when