Last Friday, a panel of the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in In re Google, a patent case. As we noted in our argument preview, Google seeks a writ of mandamus ordering the district court (here, Chief Judge Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas) to dismiss the case for lack of venue. Chief Judge Gilstrap concluded that Google’s “edge servers” located at Internet Service Provider locations within the district constitute a “regular and established place of business” of Google, subjecting Google to venue in the district court. We are keeping track of the case because it attracted an amicus brief. In that brief, a group of companies lodged their support for Google’s position that these servers do not suffice under the venue statute. Here is our argument recap.
Argument Preview – In re Google LLC
Another case being argued in December that attracted an amicus brief is In re Google LLC. In this case, Google seeks a writ of mandamus ordering the district court to dismiss the case for improper venue. According to Google, the case presents the question of whether “a defendant who keeps computer equipment in the facility of a third party in a judicial district has a ‘regular and established place of business’ in that district under the patent venue statute.” Besides Google, the other interested party in this case is the plaintiff-patent owner, Super Interconnect Technologies LLC.