BREAKING: Supreme Court limits US patentee's forum shopping capabilities

What do you mean I need to curtail my
forum shopping habit?

Hot off the presses in DC this morning is the much-awaited decision in TC Heartland LLC v Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (2017).  In a unanimous (8-0) decision, the justices found in favor of TC Heartland in holding that 28 U.S.C. §1400(b)  - the patent venue statute - is to be interpreted narrowly.  The provision states that:

“[a]ny civil action for patent infringement may 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.” (empahsis added)

The Court held that "resides" means the State of incorporation (see Fourco Glass Co v Transmirra Products Corp 352 US 222 (1957)).  It does not extend to mere business activity.  

A broader definition of "residence" set out in the the general venue statute - 28 U.S.C. §1391(c) - had been amended twice to provide that "“[e]xcept as otherwise provided by law” and “[f]or all venue purposes,” a corporation 

“shall be deemed to reside, if a defendant, in any judicial district in which such defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to the civil action in question.” (emphasis added)

The question for the Court was whether this definition overrode §1400(b).  The answer was "no". Delivering the opinion of the Court, Justice Thomas wrote:

"In Fourco, this Court definitively and unambiguously held that the word “reside[nce]” in §1400(b) has a particular meaning as applied to domestic corporations: It refers only to the State of incorporation. Congress has not amended §1400(b) since Fourco, and neither party asks us to reconsider our holding in that case. Accordingly, the only question we must answer is whether Congress changed the meaning of §1400(b) when it amended §1391. When Congress intends to effect a change of that kind, it ordinarily provides a relatively clear indication of its intent in the text of the amended provision. See United States v. Madigan, 300 U. S. 500, 506 (1937)
. . .
The current version of §1391 does not contain any indication that Congress intended to alter the meaning of §1400(b) as interpreted in Fourco. Although the current version of §1391(c) provides a default rule that applies “[f]or all venue purposes,” the version at issue in Fourco similarly provided a default rule that applied “for venue purposes.” 353 U. S., at 223 (internal quotation marks omitted). In this context, we do not see any material difference between the two phrasings
. . .
Fourco’s holding rests on even firmer footing now that §1391’s saving clause expressly contemplates that certain venue statutes may retain definitions of “resides” that conflict with its default definition. In short, the saving clause makes explicit the qualification that this Court previously found implicit in the statute. "  (emphasis added)

Heartland had challenged the decision by Kraft Foods to commence infringements proceedings in Delaware (where Kraft is incorporated) on the basis that Heartland shipped the allegedly infringing products into the state.  Heartland, otherwise, had no meaningful local presence in Delaware.  Heartland applied to dismiss the case or transfer venue to Indiana, where it is headquartered.  The case has now been remanded.

So will this be the blow to the much loved (by patentees, anyway) Eastern District of Texas that so many defendants have been dreaming of?  Is this a further blow to patent trolls in the US?  Will patentees look to other global venues where forum shopping presents more opportunities, for example in Europe and under Article 33 of the UPCA?  Or is this just balance returning to forum shopping in the US and it will be business as normal? What do readers think?