Friday, February 22, 2019

Eyeing Patent Lawsuits, Apple To Shut Down Retail Stores In Plano, Frisco

Apple appears to be looking to better position itself against future patent infringement lawsuits, in a very unusual way--by shutting down its retail stores in Plano and Frisco. According to MacRumors and 9to5mac, Apple is permanently shutting down its Apple Willow Bend and Apple Stonebriar stores, and instead move to a new store in the Galleria Dallas Shopping Mall. Unlike most retail moves, it appears the move out of Plano and Frisco are directly related to the Eastern District of Texas, a very popular court for filing patent infringement lawsuits--which has been criticized for being "patent troll friendly". The move will mean that Apple will no longer have an "established place of business" in Texas, meaning that lawsuits cannot be filed against the company in the Eastern District of Texas based on recent legal rule changes.