Intellectual Property Law

Federal Circuit: Questionable Personal Jurisdiction Warrants Transfer

By Karen E. Keller, Andrew A. Lundgren et al.

Among the many considerations that courts face when deciding whether to transfer an action, especially in an era of ever-expanding dockets, judicial economy can sometimes tip the balance. In a recent order, the Federal Circuit upheld a D. Del. decision that sent the underlying ANDA case to another district. Of the several reasons cited, the Court approved the district court's rationale for avoiding a potentially unnecessary round of discovery:

"In this case, the Delaware District Court ruled that 'substantial, unresolved questions remain with regard to whether this District has personal jurisdiction over Defendant Apotex . . . ' and stated that it would not exercise jurisdiction over Apotex without jurisdictional discovery. Under these circumstances, we cannot say that the Delaware District Court clearly abused its discretion in ruling that judicial economy and the interest of justice weighed strongly in favor of transfer."

In re Pfizer Inc., Misc. Docket No. 915 (D. Del. Feb. 2, 2010) (Horbaly, Clerk, for the Court).

Full post as published by Delaware IP Law Blog on February 15, 2010 (boomark / email).