Thursday, July 21, 2011

Judge Ward's Announced Retirement "Shifts the Private and Public Interest Factors More in the Direction of Transferring Venue"

Defendant's motion to transfer venue of plaintiff's infringement action was granted even though defendants waited 17 months to file their motion. "[T]hough not commendable, under the unique facts of this case, the Court holds that the delay is not sufficient for this Court to keep the case in the Eastern District of Texas. The timing of the undersigned's announcement of retirement is important in considering [defendant's] delay. . . . [Defendant] filed this motion to transfer venue three months after learning of the undersigned's retirement. . . . [T]he undersigned's announcement of retirement shifts the analysis of the private and public interest factors more in the direction of transferring venue, so it is reasonable that [defendant] may have decided to file the motion to transfer venue only after learning of the undersigned's retirement."

Rembrandt Vision Technologies LP v. Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., 2-09-cv-00200 (TXED July 19, 2011, Order) (Ward, J.)

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