Intellectual property attorneys are preparing for an influx of patent infringement suits in Delaware after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that corporations “reside” only in their state of incorporation under the patent venue statute.
The attorneys agreed that the 8-0 decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group likely ended the near-monopoly the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has enjoyed in recent years as filers flocked to the plaintiff-friendly forum. Delaware, already the second-busiest jurisdiction for patent litigation and home to more than half of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies, is widely expected to pick up many of those cases.
