U.S. Supreme Court Puts New Curbs on Locations of Patent Suits

By Greg Stohr and Susan Decker, Bloomberg News

The U.S. Supreme Court put sharp new limits on where patent-infringement lawsuits can be filed, undercutting patent owners’ ability to channel cases to favorable courts.

The justices on Monday unanimously ruled in favor of TC Heartland LLC, an Indiana-based maker of water flavorings that said a Kraft Heinz Co. unit shouldn’t be allowed to sue it in Delaware. The high court said patent suits should be filed in the state where the defendant is incorporated.

The ruling will bar many patent owners from pressing cases in the Eastern District of Texas, a ...