On Friday, April 27, 2016, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declined to reevaluate the venue rules for patent litigation. In a closely watched case titled In re: TC Heartland LLC, petitioner TC Heartland requested that the Federal Circuit reshape patent litigation venue rules, and largely eliminate the ability of patent owners to file suit in popular venues like the Eastern District of Texas. That district has become the venue for nearly half of the patent infringement suits brought in the United States each year—the result of a 1990 Federal Circuit decision in which the court held that a defendant could be sued anywhere it sold an allegedly infringing product.

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