Opinion ID: 208674
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Convenience of the Witnesses and Parties

Text: We start with an important factor, the convenience for and cost of attendance of witnesses. See generally Neil Bros. Ltd. v. World Wide Lines, Inc., 425 F.Supp.2d 325, 329 (E.D.N.Y.2006) (The convenience of the witnesses is probably the single most important factor in transfer analysis). In Volkswagen, the Fifth Circuit noted that [a]dditional distance [from home] means additional travel time; additional travel time increases the probability for meal and lodging expenses; and additional travel time with overnight stays increases the time which these fact witnesses must be away from their regular employment. 545 F.3d at 317 (quotation marks omitted). Because it generally becomes more inconvenient and costly for witnesses to attend trial the further they are away from home, the Fifth Circuit established the 100-mile rule, which requires that [w]hen the distance between an existing venue for trial of a matter and a proposed venue under § 1404(a) is more than 100 miles, the factor of inconvenience to witnesses increases in direct relationship to the additional distance to be traveled. Id. (quotation marks omitted). The petitioners identified at least ten witnesses within the Northern District of California, including at least three non-party witnesses who had knowledge of material facts relevant to the case. Two of the identified witnesses within the transferee venue were attorneys responsible for the prosecution of some of the patents-in-suit. The other witnesses within the venue had knowledge of the development and/or manufacture of the accused infringing products. The petitioners also identified at least four additional witnesses that had knowledge of material facts relevant to the case outside of the proposed alternative venue but within California, including at least three non-party witnesses. Although no witness resides in the Eastern District of Texas, the district court stated that this factor only slightly favored transfer. The court gave four reasons why the Northern District of California was not clearly more convenient for the witnesses. First, the court stated that the petitioners had failed to identify any key witnesses within the transferee venue. Second, the court asserted that the six inventors traveling from Europe and Switzerland would be more inconvenienced in having to testify in California than Texas. Third, the court stated that Texas was more centrally located for the European witnesses as well as a potential witness regarding prior art from Iowa and the remaining patent prosecution attorneys who reside on the East Coast. Finally, the court cited several of its recent orders for the proposition that this factor should not weigh in favor of transfer unless transfer would be convenient for all the witnesses. Regarding the court's assessment that the petitioners failed to identify any key witnesses within the venue, the petitioners were held to a higher standard than required by the law. A district court should assess the relevance and materiality of the information the witness may provide. Requiring a defendant to show that the potential witness has more than relevant and material information at this point in the litigation or risk facing denial of transfer on that basis is unnecessary. See Volkswagen, 545 F.3d at 317 n. 12 (rejecting argument that defendants seeking transfer were required to submit affidavit evidence indicating what specific testimony they might offer and why such testimony is relevant or important). It is clear from the parties' filings below that inequitable conduct, infringement, and invalidity might be issues at trial. The petitioners have identified witnesses relevant to those issues, and the identification of those witnesses weighs in favor of transfer. It was not necessary for the district court to evaluate the significance of the identified witnesses' testimony. The district court also emphasized that the Eastern District of Texas was more convenient for the six inventors and other potential witnesses from Germany and Switzerland. Under the 100-mile rule generally, the factor of inconvenience to witnesses increases in direct relationship to the additional distance to be traveled. However, the 100-mile rule should not be rigidly applied such that it creates the result presented here. The witnesses from Europe will be required to travel a significant distance no matter where they testify. In contrast to the foreign witnesses, there are a substantial number of witnesses residing within the transferee venue who would be unnecessarily inconvenienced by having to travel away from home to testify in the Eastern District of Texas. The significant weight given to the inconvenience of the European witnesses is in direct conflict with the more appropriate approach of several other district court decisions. See Neil Bros., 425 F.Supp.2d at 330 (noting that it is comparatively only slightly less convenient to travel from the United Kingdom to New York than it is to travel from the United Kingdom to Tennessee); Bionx Implants, Inc. v. Biomet, Inc., No. 99 Civ. 740, 1999 WL 342306, at  (S.D.N.Y. May 27, 1999) (stating that witness traveling from Finland were no more inconvenienced by having to travel to Indiana than they would be traveling to New York); accord Cento Group, S.p.A. v. OroAmerica, Inc., 822 F.Supp. 1058, 1061-62 (S.D.N.Y.1993) (European plaintiff was no more inconvenienced by litigating in California than in New York); Ricoh Co. v. Honeywell, Inc., 817 F.Supp. 473, 484 (D.N.J.1993) (plaintiff's witnesses from Japan were no more inconvenienced by testifying in Minnesota than in New York). The district court also relied on the Eastern District of Texas's centralized location regarding the additional identified potential witnesses in Iowa and the East Coast to warrant denial of transfer. The only relevant citation provided by Sanofi in support of the district court's central locality approach is United States v. Binder, 794 F.2d 1195 (7th Cir.1986). In Binder, the district court was asked to transfer venue from Illinois to California. Of the 86 witnesses identified by the parties, 43 resided in California or a nearby state, 17 resided in Illinois, and 19 resided in New York, New Jersey, Florida, or England. In deciding that the defendant had not met its burden to require transfer, the court of appeals noted that the widely scattered residences of the other witnesses, many of whom lived on or near the east coast, favored a central location for trial like Illinois rather than a far western location like California. Id. at 1200. The differences between this case and Binder are significant. In Binder, 43 witnesses resided in the proposed transferee venue and 19 witnesses were residents of the plaintiff's chosen venue. The court noted [a]lthough a substantial number of witnesses were from California, a substantial number of witnesses were also from Illinois. Id. In the present case, it is undisputed that no identified witness is a resident of Texas, let alone a resident of the Eastern District of Texas. Thus, the district court improperly used its central location as a consideration in the absence of witnesses within the plaintiff's choice of venue. The district court stated that this factor should only favor transfer if it will be more convenient for all of the witnesses. See Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH. v. Genentech, Inc., 607 F.Supp.2d 769, 778 (E.D.Tex.2009) (In TS Tech, the Federal Circuit found that this factor weighed in favor of transfer to a Defendant's home district where all of the witnesses were located in or around that district. At the same time, this factor can be neutral if the transferee district is not convenient for all of the witnesses. (citation omitted)). We cannot agree with the district court's rigid assessment. Because a substantial number of material witnesses reside within the transferee venue and the state of California, and no witnesses reside within the Eastern District of Texas, the district court clearly erred in not determining this factor to weigh substantially in favor of transfer. Concerning the convenience of the parties, as we noted above, Genentech is headquartered within the Northern District of California. Biogen is headquartered in San Diego, California and would have to travel approximately half the distance to attend trial in Northern District of California than in the Eastern District of Texas. Sanofi is a German corporation that will be traveling a great distance no matter which venue the case is tried in and will be only slightly more inconvenienced by the case being tried in California than in Texas. Thus, the parties' convenience factor favored transfer, and not only slightly.