Time to Trial Not Acceptable Reason to Deny Venue Transfer in Cases

Technology giants Apple and Google have been fighting separate infringement actions in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and seeking to transfer venue to California.

Apple and Google Appeal Decisions for Transfer Venue Requests

Apple has been sued by Neonode Smartphone, LLC over allegations that Apple’s iPhone and iPad products infringe their patents. Google, similarly, has been sued by Express Mobile, Inc., which alleges that its patents have been infringed upon by Google services, specifically, Google Ads, Google Slides, and Google Docs.

Google and Apple’s separate motions to transfer venues to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California were denied by Judge Alan Albright. On appeal, the Federal Circuit stepped in and agreed to grant the companies’ mandamus petitions to review Judge Albright’s findings. 

Federal Circuit Finds Time to Trial Reasoning an Error in Decision Not to Transfer Venue

In reviewing Judge Albright’s decisions, the Federal Circuit focused mainly on Judge Albright’s particular focus on the expected time for both cases to get to trial. Although Judge Albright himself had ruled that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California would be more convenient for Apple and Google when compared to his own court, Judge Albright nevertheless decided to deny the technology giants’ motions to transfer venue based mainly on his reasoning that his court would likely be able to decide the two cases more quickly than its California counterpart.

In its past decisions, the Federal Circuit has noted that judges should not give weight to the time-to-trial factor any more than other factors when it comes to deciding to transfer venue in cases. As a result, the Federal Circuit ordered Judge Albright to transfer venue in both cases to the Northern District of California. As such, clients should not be afraid to consider appealing district court intellectual property decisions to the Federal Circuit.

Key Takeaways for Proper Reasons to Transfer Venue in Cases

Google and Apple both ultimately won in their efforts to have their respective cases transferred from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California based on the Federal Circuit finding:

• That the Northern District of California would be more convenient for Google and Apple;

• That the Western District of Texas had erred in giving significantly more weight to the reasoning that the Western District would get the cases to trial more rapidly; and

• That the location of the Northern District of California would make it easier to produce potential witnesses and evidence.

For more information on litigation, see our Intellectual Property Litigation and Industry Focused Legal Solutions pages.