WacoWatch

Defendant Tableau Software, LLC (Tableau) filed an opposed motion to transfer venue to the Northern District of California. On May 21, 2024, Judge Pitman granted Tableau’s motion and transferred the proceeding between Tableau and iCharts LLC.

On November 6, 2023, Judge Albright denied Defendants Amazon Services LLC and eero LLC’s Motion to Dismiss for Improper Venue and to Transfer Venue to the Northern District of California.

On May 26, 2023, Judge Albright granted Defendant Adobe Inc.’s (Adobe) motion to transfer venue to the Northern District of California (NDCA).

On February 2, 2022, Zentian filed a complaint against Apple alleging infringement of four patents directed to improving the performance and efficiency of speech recognition on-device systems, including in the areas of parallel processing and circuit configurations.

On May 17, 2023, Judge Albright granted Defendant Apple Inc.’s (Apple) motion for an intra-district transfer of venue to the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas. Plaintiff SpaceTime 3D, Inc. (SpaceTime) had alleged that Apple infringed several patents relating to various systems and methods for switching between applications on a mobile device.

Topia Tech, Inc. v. Dropbox Inc., et al., No. W-21-CV-01373-ADA, is a case brought by Topia, alleging that Dropbox infringes several patents related to sharing electronic files between multiple devices.

Defendants Kioxia Corporation (“KIC”) and Kioxia America (“KAI”) (collectively, “Kioxia”) filed a motion to transfer venue to the Northern District of California (“NDCA”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).

In orders ruling on two motions to transfer venue to the Northern District of California (N.D. Cal.) in related cases, Judge Albright granted transfer to Defendant Google LLC and denied transfer to Defendant Vivint, Inc.

On April 20, 2022, Judge Albright granted Defendant Microsoft Corporation’s (Microsoft) Motion to Transfer Venue to the Western District of Washington (WDWA) finding Microsoft met its burden that transfer is clearly more convenient. 

On March 25, 2022, Judge Albright granted Defendant Meraki Integrated Circuit (Shenzhen) Technology, Ltd.’s (“Meraki”) opposed motion for reconsideration and severed Defendant Meraki and granted its transfer motion to the Northern District of California (“NDCA”).

Plaintiffs Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. and Chengdu Monolithic Power Systems Co., Ltd. (together, “MPS”) filed this action against Defendant Meraki, alleging patent infringement (“Patent Claims”) along with claims of trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference, and unfair competition (“Non-Patent Claims”). Also, MPS filed a lawsuit in the NDCA against Defendant Meraki’s founders in their individual capacities.

On March 9, 2022, several months after accessiBe Ltd. (“accessiBe”) was denied transfer in AudioEye, Inc. v. accessiBe Ltd., Judge Albright reversed his decision on reconsideration. The case will proceed in the Western District of New York (“WDNY”).

Judge Albright issued multiple standing orders on March 7, 2022, changing various procedural requirements for litigating patent cases in his court.

On March 1, 2022, Judge Albright denied Defendant Apple, Inc.’s (“Apple”) Motion to Transfer Venue to the Northern District of California (“NDCA”), “alleging that it is more convenient than this District.” Plaintiff BillJCo, LLC (“BillJCo”) did not contest that this action could have been brought in the NDCA.

On March 1, 2022, Judge Albright granted Defendant eClinicalWorks, LLC’s (“eClinical”) Motion to Transfer Venue to the District of Massachusetts. eClinical did not argue that the Western District of Texas, Waco Division (“WDTX”) was an improper venue, but rather that the District of Massachusetts “is simply a more convenient forum.”

On May 28, 2021, Monterey Research, LLC (“Monterey”) sued Broadcom Corporation (“Broadcom”) in the Waco Division, alleging infringements of seven patents. Broadcom and Monterey, however, are both headquartered and have their principal places of business in the Northern District of California. Therefore, on November 29, 2021, and before substantive proceedings occurred, Broadcom moved to transfer venue to N.D. Cal. Judge Albright denied the motion—less than a month after briefing concluded. In denying transferring the case, Judge Albright considered the 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) transfer factors, focusing on the following six factors contested by the parties.

Judge Albright granted Defendants’ Motion to Transfer to the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas in Express Mobile, Inc. v. Expedia, Inc., HomeAway.com, Inc., No. W-20-CV-00801-ADA (December 15, 2021, Order Granting Defendants’ Motion to Transfer).

The third quarter of 2021 was one of the busier quarters for Judge Albright on transfer orders.  For 3Q 2021, we reviewed the judge’s transfer-related orders and procedures.

Less than a month after denying Alfresco Software, Ltd.’s motion for transfer of venue under 28 U.S.C. 1404(a) in Open Text Corp. v. Alfresco Software, Ltd., Judge Albright reversed his own order in light of In re Juniper Networks, Inc., 14 F.4th 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2021). The case has now been transferred to the Central District of California (CDCA).

On September 30, 2021, Judge Albright denied Alfresco Software, Ltd.’s motion for transfer of venue under 28 U.S.C. 1404(a) in Open Text Corp. v. Alfresco Software, Ltd. The case will continue to be tried in the Western District of Texas before Judge Albright.

On September 24, 2021, the Federal Circuit granted Juniper Networks’ petition for mandamus and directed Judge Albright to transfer Brazos’s six remaining lawsuits against Juniper Networks from the Waco Division to the Northern District of California.