Fenwick patent litigation partners David Tellekson, Bryan Kohm and Melanie Mayer, along with associate Reilly Stoler, summarized to The IPKat how the Federal Circuit provided patent venue guidance in its precedential opinion in In re Cray Inc.
The lawyers noted that “A key takeaway for employers is that the typical work-from-home employee will not create a ‘regular and established place of business’ for venue purposes. In rejecting the position that such home offices are sufficient, the Federal Circuit explicitly stated that a “home in which [defendant’s employee] carries on some work that he does for the defendant” does not meet the standard.
“More broadly, the decision will likely shift much of U.S. patent litigation out of the Eastern District of Texas. While many companies, such as national retailers will remain subject to venue in the Eastern District, many, if not most, of U.S. corporations will not."
Tellekson, Kohm and Mayer, with associates Jonathan McMichael, Yixin Zhang, Eman Sojoodi and Reilly Stoler, represented petitioner Cray Inc. in this matter.
The full article is available through The IPKat website.