Case is transferred to Texas where litigation was first filed
Farnan, J. Defendant’s motion to dismiss, stay or transfer is granted.
Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment action that it does not infringe the patent-in-suit and that the patent is invalid, and filed suit in Delaware on June 27, 2006. Defendant previously filed an infringement action on June 13, 2006 with respect to the same patent providing video-on-demand services. Plaintiffs contend the first-filed rule should not apply in this instance because the Delaware court can resolve the action most expeditiously given its familiarity with the same patent in a lawsuit involving similar video-on demand systems. The Texas Court denied a motion to transfer to Delaware on August 31, 2006. The Delaware Court ruled that the previous related lawsuit is insufficient reason for departing from the first-filed rule. The judge who presided over that previous lawsuit is no longer on the bench in Delaware. Furthermore, the Texas litigation is progressing and policies of judicial economy and comity weigh against duplicative actions.
A full copy of the opinion is available here.
