Chicago IP Attorney & Lawyer : R. David Donoghue : Chicago IP Litigation Blog

Palantir.net, Inc. v. Palantir Techs., Inc., No. 07 C 4271, Min. Order (N.D. Ill. Nov. 27, 2007) (Guzman, J.).*

Judge Guzman granted defendant's motion to transfer this Lanham Act case to the Northern District of California ("N.D. Cal.") pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1404(a).  Defendant's principal place of business was in the N.D. Cal. and defendant had an earlier-filed case against plaintiff pending in the N.D. Cal.  The Court, therefore, held that the convenience of the parties and the witnesses, as well as the interests of justice, were best served by transferring the case to the N.D. Cal.

*  Click here for a copy of the case.

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Statistics compiled by the Patent Troll Tracker* blog show that the Northern District continues to play a prominent role in deciding the nation's patent disputes and, as a result, its IP disputes more generally.  Filings of patent cases for 2007 (through the end of July), show that the Northern District had the fourth most patent filings:

Another interesting statistic from this data:  with the exception of the E.D. Texas, all of the districts have a rough average of two to three defendants per case.  E.D. Texas averages about three and a half defendants per case.  I would have expected that E.D. Texas would average closer to five to ten defendants per case.  Perhaps all of the large patent licensing company cases that garner so much attention in Marshall are balanced by disputes between individual parties.

If readers are interested in these statistics, let me know and I will compile my own data and make it a regular (maybe quarterly) feature.

*  I appreciate the Patent Troll Tracker's statistics and even the effort he performs keeping track of cases filed by patent licensing companies, but as I have explained before I am no fan of name calling (by either plaintiffs' or defendants' counsel).  As such, I prefer the neutral term "patent licensing company."

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The Northern District of California is considering revising its patent rules (enacted in January 2001).  To start its review, the Northern District of California is seeking public comments.  Comments must be sent by December 15, 2006 to patentlocalrulescommittee@gmail.com.  The notice is here.   The Northern District of California Local Rules are not directly relevant to Northern District of Illinois cases, but because the Northern District of California's patent rules serve as a pattern for courts across the country, including in the Northern District of Illinois, any changes to the Northern District of California's rules could effect courts in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country.

Thanks to Dennis Crouch at Patently-O for identifying the request for comments and for an interesting post, followed interesting comments, on proposed changes.

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