Opinion ID: 3005074
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First Removal

Text: MPHJ timely filed a motion to remove the case to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont on June 7, 2013 (“the first removal”). MPHJ claimed that the court had diversity jurisdiction and that the court had federal question jurisdiction because the validity, infringement, and enforcement of its patents were at issue. The State thereafter moved to remand, arguing that its complaint sounded solely in the VCPA, a state law. MPHJ then filed a motion to dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction and a motion for sanctions under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 11. The district court held a hearing on these pending motions on February 25, 2014, and expressed concern that the State’s second request for an injunction could prevent MPHJ from sending legitimate assertions regarding patent infringement to Vermont businesses. On March 7, 2014, STATE OF VERMONT v. MPHJ TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS 5 the State filed a motion to clarify or amend its complaint to delete the second injunction request (“A permanent injunction requiring Defendant to stop threatening Vermont businesses with patent-infringement lawsuits”). On April 14, 2014, the district court issued an order remanding the case to state court, without deciding the other pending motions, including the State’s motion to clarify or amend the complaint. Vermont v. MPHJ Tech. Invs., LLC, No. 2:13-cv-170, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52132, at  (D. Vt. Apr. 14, 2014). The court concluded that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction. The court stated that, under the test set out in Gunn v. Minton, 133 S. Ct. 1059, 1065 (2013), federal patent law issues were not “necessarily raised” on the face of the State’s complaint because the claims in the original complaint did not challenge the validity of the patents nor require any determination of actual infringement. MPHJ, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52132, at . The court also concluded that the original complaint did not raise a “substantial” federal question under Gunn, as any possible federal question would at best involve “application of existing patent law to the facts of this case,” with no wide-reaching determinations about patent law itself. Id. at . The court also determined that there was no diversity jurisdiction. Id. at . On May 13, 2014, MPHJ filed a notice of appeal of the remand decision to this court and petitioned this court for a writ of mandamus, claiming that the district court abused its discretion. Upon return to the state court, the State filed its amended complaint on May 7, 2014. During a subsequent motions hearing, the state court indicated that, because MPHJ had not yet answered, the State was entitled to amend its complaint as a matter of right under state court rules. Exhibit 1 of Vermont’s Mot. to Expedite Proceedings at 37-38, MPHJ, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3309 (No. 2:14-cv-00192), ECF No. 3. Despite having acknowledged that, however, the state court 6 STATE OF VERMONT v. MPHJ TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS ultimately granted the State’s motion to amend at the same time it denied MPHJ’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Exhibit 3-12 to MPHJ’s Notice of Removal at 2, 6, MPHJ, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3309 (No. 2:14-cv-00192), ECF No. 1. On August 11, 2014, this court held that it did not have jurisdiction over either the appeal or the mandamus petition by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d). Vermont v. MPHJ Tech. Invs., LLC, 763 F.3d 1350, 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2014). Section 1447(d) provides that a remand order to a state court “is not reviewable on appeal or otherwise,” with a couple of specific, statutorilyprovided exceptions. Id. at 1353. The Supreme Court has concluded that this prohibition applies only to remands based on 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), which includes the district court’s first remand order. Id.