Apple and Qualcomm lose bid to move patent suit out of Texas

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Apple and Qualcomm cannot get a long-running patent case moved from Texas to California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has decided. And if you’re thinking: “Wait, didn’t they settle their lawsuits?”, you’re right. They did. This is another lawsuit, filed by Red Rock Analytics, against both of them. Here are the details.

This case revolves around U.S. Patent No. 7,346,313

In this lawsuit, which has been active since 2021, Red Rock Analytics claims that both Apple and Qualcomm infringe on its technology for wireless transceivers, including those found in modern 5G and Wi-Fi 6 chips.

Back in March, U.S. District Judge Alan Albright ruled that the case should remain in the Western District of Texas, where both companies have relevant operations, rather than move the case to their home turf.

Apple and Qualcomm appealed, hoping the Federal Circuit would intervene and force a venue change. As it turns out, as reported by Law360, the appeal didn’t work either.

In their appeal, Apple and Qualcomm argued that key witnesses and documents were easier to access from California, that potential inventors of prior art were located in the Northern District, and they also raised concerns about accessing internal documents from Texas.

“While the Petitioners are correct that such categorical assumptions are generally not helpful in the analysis of transfer under § 1404(a), Juniper, 14 F.4th at 1319; see Stewart Org., Inc. v. Ricoh Corp., 487 U.S. 22, 29 (1988) (requiring an “individualized, case-by-case consideration of convenience and fairness” (citation omitted)), they failed to show that any of these potential witnesses are unwilling to testify.”

Initially, Judge Albright was skeptical that those inventors would even testify, saying they’re rarely called over expert witnesses at trial. The appeals court agreed.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, the court said Apple and Qualcomm didn’t meet the “demanding standard” to prove that Judge Albright had clearly abused his discretion, and noted they failed to mention any actual access restrictions in their original motion.

So for now, the case stays put in Texas.