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VE Holding Corp. V. Johnson Gas Applicance Co.

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“On the way up was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross; and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll, with eyes as big as saucers, and a nose as long as a poker.”

The idea of a greedy, grotesque troll living under the bridge first appeared in English literature in an 1859 translation of the Norwegian fairy tale “De tre bukkene Bruse” (“Three Billy Goats Gruff”). Since this introduction, the idea has become a cultural mainstay, finding its way into a wide range of cultural settings. Comedically, the troll was featured in the cult-classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Artistically, it has been implemented as a stone sculpture under a bridge in Seattle, Washington. The term has become so colloquially accepted that it has …show more content…

The amendment expanded the statutory definition of residence and claimed that this definition would apply “[f]or purpose of venue under this chapter” in “any judicial district in which such defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction.” Two years later, this change prompted a challenge of the Fourco decision in the 1990 case VE Holding Corp. v. Johnson Gas Applicance Co. The Federal Circuit, interpreting the new statutory language, determined that Fourco had been overruled by the new language of § 1391(c) and that this provision now necessitates an expanded reading of § 1400(b). The 1990 VE Holding interpretation is the current state of the law controlling patent venues. A subsequent amendment to § 1391(c) in 2011 prompted a fresh challenge of the joint interpretation in In re TC Heartland LLC, 821 F.3d 1338, 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2016). The Court’s holding in TC Heartland spoke strongly in support of the idea that Congress has recognized the VE Holding interpretation is the correct state of the law: In fact, before and after these amendments, in the context of considering amending the patent venue statute, Congressional reports have repeatedly recognized that VE Holding is the prevailing

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