MARSHALL – A federal judge has ruled that a patent infringement lawsuit against Huawei USA Inc. will stay in Texas.
In a May 23 order filed in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas, Judge Rodney Gilstrap wouldn’t allow Texas-based AGIS Software Development’s lawsuit against Huawei to leave his venue. Gilstrap found that Huawei failed to show that litigating the case in the Northern District of California would be more convenient.
“The court is of the opinion that Huawei has not met its ‘significant burden’ to show that that the asserted transferee district is clearly more convenient,” Gilstrap said in his opinion.
Huawei argued that transferring the case would make it easier to access “sources of proof” such as relevant documents and witnesses.
“The court finds that primary sources of proof may be found both in this district and the proposed transferee district, along with many sources of proof that are in other districts and abroad,” Gilstrap said.
According to the order, Huawei has an office in Plano, Texas.
Gilstrap followed the legal standard set forth in the U.S. Supreme Court case TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC.
“Any civil action for patent infringement may be brought in the judicial district where the defendant resides, or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business,” Gilstrap's opinion said.
Gilstrap also considered how long it would take to litigate the case California versus Texas. AGIS argued that the median time for cases to go to trial in California is 25.4 months, compared to 21.4 months in Texas, the order stated.
“The consideration must take into account the four-month quicker time to trial that this district enjoys compared to the Northern District of California,” Gilstrap said. “Accordingly, the court finds this factor weighs slightly against transfer.”