Inconsistent Patent Venue Decisions May Give Trolls the Advantage

There had been a trend of venue transfer approvals for companies fending off patent assertion suits, often filed in plaintiff-friendly forums like the notoriously troll-friendly Eastern District of Texas. But two recent venue change rejections – in the Eastern District of Texas and the Western District of Tennessee – buck that trend, to the dismay of the defendants in the cases, Apple and Barnes & Noble. In Apple’s case, the district court claimed Apple failed to specify which company or third-party witnesses were located in Cupertino, Calif., or what specific sources of proof were there, though Apple employs 13,000 employees in California and the patent assertion firm bringing the suit has just six in Texas. The Washington Legal Foundation sides with the dissenting judge in Apple’s case, calling for more consistency and a harder line against plaintiff arguments for the troll-friendly venues in patent litigation venue transfer decisions.