For the past few years the Eastern District of Texas has been one of the forums of choice for patent owners seeking to enforce their patents.  The Eastern District is known for being pro-patent and has issued several large awards.  This has led, however, to some cases being filed there which have dubious ties to the area around Marshall Texas.

Back in October the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided In re: Volkswagen.  In the case, Volkswagen sought a writ of mandamus to fight a decision denying its request to transfer a case from the Eastern District of Texas to the Northern District in Dallas.  The accident that spawned the suit occurred in Dallas, and most of the witnesses were in Dallas.  The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, en banc, granted the writ of mandamus and ruled that the Easter District had erred in giving too much weight to the plaintiff's choice of forum and too little to the convenience of witnesses and the location of evidence.

Other decisions have followed suit, and now three Appeals Court rulings have granted writs of mandamus requiring the Eastern District to transfer cases to other jurisdictions.  This will likely breathe new life into Defendants to want to challenge the Eastern District of Texas as an inconvenient forum.