COVID-19 has taken an unprecedented toll on the United States and the world at large.  It has impacted nearly every facet of both professional and personal life and, with that, the patent landscape, too—especially as it pertains to the interplay between in-person events (trials, hearings, depositions and the like) and the need for “social distancing.”
 

On November 15, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued two opinions explaining how district courts should determine whether, in cases filed prior to the recent Supreme Court TC Heartland venue decision, a defendant waived the defense of improper venue.  In the first opinion, In re Micron Techs., No. 2017-138, the Court issued a writ of mandamus and ordered the District Court to reconsider its decision that the defendant had waived the defense; in the second opinion, In re Cutsforth, Inc., No. 2017-135, the Court issued a writ of mandamus and ordered the District Court to reconsider its decision that the defendant had not waived the defense.

Read more