Federal Circuit Rules Presence of Google Servers in District Insufficient to Establish Venue

摘要

The Federal Circuit decision provides useful guidance for companies planning their business activities. The common business arrangement of placing a server on a rack at an ISP site by itself should not provide an anchor for lawsuits at each ISP site. The Federal Circuit also provided further helpful guidance on the notion of agency under the venue statute, noting that currently the physical presence of an agent is required. Moving forward, the Federal Circuit suggested that if the permitted vehicles for service of process change to recognize non-human agents, that may require revisiting this analysis as well.