Transfer is denied in case involving some Western European defendants
Everglades Interactive, LLC v. Playdom, Inc., et al., Civ. No. 10-902-SLR, June 8, 2011.
Robinson, J. The defendants’ motion to transfer to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is denied even though some of the defendants involved in the litigation are foreign corporations.
This is a patent litigation involving technology relating to the production of video games. All of the U.S. defendants are Delaware corporations. Two of the defendants have related Western European corporations named as defendants. The plaintiff is a California corporation. On October 21, 2010, plaintiff initiated the case. On February 1, 2011, the defendants moved to transfer the case to the Northern District of California because, inter alia, “Northern California is ‘a national hub for development of online multiplayer computer games[.]’” The motion was denied. “[T]he court reiterates, consistent with its usual mantra, that because all U.S. defendants are Delaware corporations, they have no reason to complain about being sued in Delaware.” No defendant was a regional company, and no compelling reasons existed for transfer. The Western European defendants “are in fact closer to this district than to the Northern District of California[.]”
