Venue Equity and Non-Uniformity Elimination Act of 2016 2016-03-17 Introduced in Senate Venue Equity and Non-Uniformity Elimination Act of 2016

This bill amends the federal judicial code to allow patent actions to be brought only in judicial districts where:

  • the defendant has its principal place of business or is incorporated;
  • the defendant has committed an act of infringement of a patent in suit and has a regular and established physical facility that gives rise to the act of infringement;
  • the defendant has agreed or consented to be sued;
  • an inventor named on the patent conducted research or development that led to the application for the patent in suit; or
  • a party has a regular and established physical facility and has managed significant research and development for the invention claimed in the patent, has manufactured a tangible product alleged to embody that invention, or has implemented a manufacturing process for a tangible good in which the process is alleged to embody the invention.

If a foreign defendant does not have a principal place of business, incorporation, or a physical facility in the United States, that foreign defendant may be sued in any judicial district, and joinder of such a defendant shall be disregarded in determining where the action may be brought with respect to other defendants.

These provisions replace current patent action venue laws that allow patent actions to be brought in the judicial district where the defendant resides or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business.

A teleworking employee's dwelling or residence shall not constitute a regular or established physical facility of a defendant.

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