Court Questions Filing of Suit Where No Party is Resident in the District

Posted on February 6, 2009 by R. David Donoghue

Freightquote.com, Inc. v. Air Ocean Land Sol'ns., Inc., No. 98 C 346, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 26, 2009) (Shadur, Sen. J.).

Judge Shadur issued this Memorandum questioning whether plaintiff's trademark infringement and related state law claims should have been brought in the Northern District.  The complaint listed the parties' citizenship as being in Delaware, Kansas, North Carolina and Texas.  The lack of an Illinois resident or citizen in the case caused the Court to question whether the Northern District was the appropriate location for the suit.  The Court did not rule upon the issue, but directed the parties to be prepared to discuss whether the Northern District was the appropriate forum for the case at the next hearing.

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Forum Selection Clause Destroys Venue

Posted on March 12, 2008 by R. David Donoghue

U.S. Gypsum Co. v. 3M Innovative Props. Co., No. 07 C 6381, 2008 WL 514976 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 20, 2008) (Darrah, J.).

Judge Darrah granted defendants’ (collectively “3M”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(3) motion to dismiss for lack of venue. Plaintiff United States Gypsum (“Gypsum”) filed this action asserting its own patent and seeking declaratory judgments regarding 3M’s patents, all to low dust construction compounds. Shortly thereafter, 3M filed a corresponding suit in the District of Minnesota. Prior to filing their suits, the parties were in extended negotiations regarding cross-licensing of their patents. Pursuant to those negotiations, the parties entered a confidentiality agreement (“Agreement”) requiring that all disputes “arising from the subject matter of this Agreement shall be brought . . . exclusively in [D. Minn.]” Because the express subject matter of the Agreement was the patents in suit and because the Agreement, negotiated by sophisticated parties, set D. Minn. as the exclusive jurisdiction, the Court dismissed the case in favor of 3M’s action filed in the D. Minn.

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