This morning the Federal Circuit released a precedential order in a patent case granting a petition for a writ of mandamus and ordering the Western District of Texas to transfer the case to the Northern District of California. The Federal Circuit also released three nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals for failure to prosecute. Here is text from the order and links to the dismissals.
In re Google LLC (Precedential Order)
Google LLC (“Google”) petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas to vacate its order denying Google’s motion to transfer and to transfer the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Jawbone Innovations, LLC (“Jawbone”) opposes. For the following reasons, we grant the petition and direct transfer.
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In sum, on the record before us, four factors favor transfer and four factors are neutral. No factor weighs against transfer. The center of gravity of this action, focusing on the Volkswagen factors and the overriding convenience inquiry, is clearly in the Northern District of California, not in the Western District of Texas. The district court clearly erred in finding otherwise and its decision to deny Google’s motion to transfer was a clear abuse of discretion.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
The petition is granted. The district court’s order denying Google’s motion to transfer is vacated, and the district court is directed to grant the transfer motion.