Justia U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

B.E. sued Barnes & Noble in the Western District of Tennessee, alleging that Barnes & Noble’s Nook® devices infringed a B.E. patent. B.E.’s CEO, Hoyle, the named inventor on that patent, has lived in the Western District of Tennessee since 2006 and run the company from there since 2008. Barnes & Noble is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York, but has an office in California, where most of its activities related to Nook® take place. Barnes & Noble moved to transfer the case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1404(a) “for the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice.” The district court denied the motion, agreeing that the case should remain in Tennessee. The court found that party and non-party witnesses reside in California, but that transfer would impose the burden of travel and time away for any witness in Tennessee. The court faulted Barnes & Noble for not addressing how many employees would be unavailable to testify in Tennessee or why deposition testimony would not suffice. Barnes & Noble sought a writ of mandamus. The Federal Circuit denied its petition, stating that it saw no clear abuse of discretion in the district court’s decision to deny transfer. View "In re: Barnes & Noble, Inc." on Justia Law