Clinical Activities Within § 271(e)(1) Safe Harbor Are Not “Acts of Infringement” For Determining Venue

The magistrate judge recommended granting defendants' motion for summary judgment of improper venue because there were no infringing acts in the district inasmuch as the accused activities fell under the safe harbor provision of 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1). "Plaintiff has not alleged any facts showing activities in this District other than those statutorily exempted from infringement by § 271(e)(1). . . . [T]he relevant question here is not whether Defendants engaged in uses outside the District that are not 'solely' or 'reasonably related' to seeking FDA approval, but rather, whether Defendants have engaged in any such uses in this District so that venue is proper. . . . [A]ll acts of infringement in the Eastern District of Texas are solely clinical, and therefore, the § 271(e)(1) safe harbor applies despite purported nonexempt activity in Minnesota."

Snyders Heart Valve LLC v. St. Jude Medical SC, Inc. et al, 4-16-cv-00812 (TXED March 7, 2018, Order) (Priest Johnson, MJ)