Federal Circuit to Judge: Venue Motions Are ‘First Order of Business’

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has “repeatedly scolded” U.S. District Judge Alan Albright for the Western District of Texas for his refusal to transfer patent cases out of his jurisdiction, said McDermott Will in an analysis Thursday. It did so again Nov. 8 when it vacated his scheduling order and directed him to postpone fact discovery and other substantive proceedings until it considered Apple’s motion for transfer to the Northern District of California, said the firm. The Federal Circuit ordered that Apple’s motion to transfer “must proceed expeditiously as the first order of business,” it said. Apple argued that the district court abused its discretion in ordering the parties to complete 30 more weeks of fact discovery and six weeks of rebriefing the issue to decide on Apple’s transfer request. Apple noted that by the time the district court considered Apple’s motion, a full year will have passed since Apple initially sought the transfer, it said. The Federal Circuit agreed with Apple that the district court’s scheduling order was “a clear abuse of discretion,” it said.