HP Wins Transfer of USB Patent Lawsuit from Texas to California

HP Inc. convinced a federal judge in Austin, Texas, to transfer a patent monetizer’s suit over allegedly infringing laptops, desktops, monitors, and docking stations to Northern California where the company is headquartered.

Universal Connectivity Technologies Inc., a unit of Canadian patent owner Wi-LAN Inc., sued HP in late 2023 in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas—a magnet for patent suits—accusing the Palo Alto-based tech company of infringing eight patents relating to USB connectivity standards.

The case “lacks any material ties whatsoever to Austin,” Judge Robert Pitman wrote in a Wednesday order granting HP’s motion to move the case to California. “UTC’s best argument to maintain venue in the Western District of Texas is that some witnesses reside in Houston or Dallas—not in Austin or even in this District.”

The location of some witnesses or evidence in other Texas cities couldn’t sustain venue in the Western District, Pitman wrote.

“The Court is concerned that UCT may have had forum-shopping motivations when it chose to file suit here,” he said, acknowledging a long-simmering controversy over patent judge-shopping in Eastern and Western Districts of Texas that has generatedattention and criticism from federal lawmakers since 2021.

Pitman’s order walks through a multi-factor analysis comparing his court to the US District Court for the Northern District of California on issues like cost of attending trial and the parties’ ability to compel certain witnesses to participate in such a trial. He concluded that the factors “clearly” weigh in favor of transfer.

The case is Universal Connectivity Techs. Inc. v. HP Inc., W.D. Tex., 1:23-cv-1177, granting transfer 7/3/24.