Federal Judiciary

Motion to Transfer Denied - Prior Case Involving Same Patent Pending

By Michael C. Smith

Novartis Vaccines and Diag., Inc. et al. v. Bayer Healthcare, LLC et al., 2:08-cv-00068 (E.D. Tex. September 28, 2009)

Judge: T. John Ward

Holding: Motion to Transfer Venue DENIED

Judge Ward denied the defendants' motion to transfer venue for convenience relying primarily on the existence of a related case. He wrote that "[t]he Federal Circuit has found that, in patent cases, the 'consideration of the interest of justice, which includes judicial economy, may be determinative to a particular transfer motion, even if the convenience of the parties and witnesses might call for a different result.' "  In this case, Plaintiffs had pending in Marshall a related lawsuit against another company asserting the same patent-in-suit.  "The two cases involve the same claim construction issues," Judge Ward observed, "and transferring the case will only consume unnecessarily additional judicial resources."  Accordingly, Judge Ward held that "the interests of justice weigh heavily against transfer."

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on September 30, 2009 (boomark / email).