WESTECH AEROSOL CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellant v. 3M COMPANY, GTA-NHT, INC., DBA NORTHSTAR CHEMICAL, Defendants-Appellees, 927 F.3d 1378

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-In a patent infringement case, the district court did not err in granting defendant's motion to dismiss for improper venue under 28 U.S.C.S. § 1400(b) because plaintiff failed to plead any facts showing that defendant had a regular and established place of business physically located in the district where the suit was filed. Simply stating that the defendant had a regular and established place of business within the judicial district, without more, amounted to a mere legal conclusion that the court was not bound to accept as true; [2]-Motion for sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 38 was denied because, while plaintiff's appeal lacked merit, it was not frivolous as filed because, at the time of filing the appeal, the question of who had the burden to show the defendant had a regular and established place of business in the judicial district was not settled.