Zojo Sol’ns., Inc. v. Leviton Mfg. Co., No. 10 C 881, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Oct. 20, 2010) (Grady, Sen. J.).

Judge Grady granted defendant Leviton’s 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) motion to transfer this false patent marking case to the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiff Zojo’s choice of forum was given little deference because Zojo was a qui tam plaintiff. The location of Leviton’s witnesses and documents in New York combined with the fact that Leviton’s New York headquarters was the situs for the alleged false marking, favored transfer. That was true even though the Eastern District of New York was a slightly faster court. The most interesting aspect of the decision, however, was a statement that the Local Patent Rules did not apply to false patent marking cases because patent infringement was not alleged. Presumably, the analysis is different if the alleged false marking involves a marked product that allegedly does not fall within the claims of the marked patent.