Working Closely With Corporate Affiliate Does Not Create a Regular and Established Place of Business Necessary for Venue

The court granted defendants' motion to transfer for improper venue because one subsidiary defendant's contacts with the district were insufficient to establish a regular and established place of business in the district for another subsidiary defendant. "Defendants concede that [one defendant] has a place of business in this district in the form of a retail store. . . . Defendants dispute some of [plaintiff's] allegations, but even if the court assumes that all of them are true, they show only that defendants are both subsidiaries of the same parent company and that they collaborate on matters common to both of them. That’s not sufficient to treat defendants as interchangeable for the purpose of determining whether each has a place of business in this district. . . . Because there is no authority for the view that venue is proper as to one corporation simply because that corporation 'works closely' with another corporation that may be sued in that district, [plaintiff] has failed to meet its burden to show that venue is proper in this district."

Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd. v. Lowe's Home Centers, LLC et al, 3-18-cv-00027 (WIWD May 4, 2018, Order) (Peterson, USDJ)