Recent Successes 2009 Archive
March 14, 2009
Fitch Even client, Panther Vision LLC, has prevailed on its motion to transfer a patent infringement case filed against it in the Southern District of Ohio to the Northern District of Illinois. The Court’s March 13 decision is noteworthy because the case was originally filed in Cincinnati, the location of the world headquarters of the Plaintiff, totes Isotoner Corporation. Despite the strong deference often given to a Plaintiff’s chosen home forum, the Court found that transfer to Panther Vision’s home forum of the Northern District of Illinois was appropriate because Panther Vision made a strong showing of inconvenience under the applicable legal standards.
Consistent with the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in In re TS Tech USA Corp., 551 F.3d 1315 (Fed. Cir. 2008), the Court gave careful consideration to the convenience of important witnesses and the location of relevant evidence in analyzing the appropriateness of transfer. It found that numerous party and third-party witnesses having information regarding the Panther Vision products are located in the Northern District of Illinois, and that the most important witnesses regarding the totes Isotoner products reside in Minneapolis, the location of a recently acquired subsidiary that manufactures the competing totes Isotoner products. The Court also found that the Reno, Nevada residence of the inventor, and co-Plaintiff, also favored transfer due to the shorter travel required from Reno to Chicago as compared to Cincinnati.
Panther Vision’s unique lighting products are covered by patents secured by a Fitch Even patent prosecution team headed by Steve Favakeh. Panther Vision is represented in the litigation by Fitch Even trial attorneys Steve Schroer, Tim Maloney, Ted Li, and Calista Mitchell.
