On May 22, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Federal Circuit decision that construed federal venue statutes so broadly that many nationwide businesses were subject to suit in virtually any federal district court. The decision marked a victory for WLF, which filed a brief urging the Court to construe the venue statute narrowly. WLF warned that the Federal Circuit’s liberal venue rule—to which it had adhered for more than 25 years—raised serious due-process concerns and encouraged rampant forum shopping by “patent trolls,” entities that file numerous, inappropriate patent-infringement cases. A favorite forum for patent trolls is the plaintiff-friendly U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, where more than 40% of all patent infringement suits were filed in 2015. The Supreme Court agreed with WLF that infringement suits may be filed only in the infringer’s home State or else in a State in which it maintains a regular place of business.

Victory.