A company named Rockstar wanted its lawsuit filed against Google to be moved to Texas. Texas was the vicinity where it had filed patent lawsuits against Google’s Android partners. The attempt to have the suit moved out of California, however, has proven unsuccessful.
The patents in question were originally acquired by Rockstar when it outbid Google in 2011. The patents were acquired for $4.5 billion. Rockstar may have wanted the matter against Google moved because they felt that the courts in Texas would be friendlier towards patent holders.
Rockstar created a new company in Texas prior to its filing of lawsuits against Google. The out-of-state court that overruled Rockstar’s motion to have the matter moved, however, referred to this newly created business as a “sham entity.” That court ruled that the new company was created for jurisdictional purposes to influence where the case could be tried.
Google apparently feel that the lawsuits filed against it have hurt sales concerning Android devices and have harmed their relations with customers. In any case, the California judge ruled that the lawsuit should remain in that state because that was where the evidence for this matter was located.
The remaining lawsuits against Google’s Android partners may also end up being moved as well. Apparently many of the same issues are tied to the lawsuit against Google.
Obviously any matter concerning patents costing $4.5 billion will require knowledgeable representation. Business litigation disputes over where a case should be tried will only be the beginning. Wherever the jurisdiction, it’s important that the interests of that business are aggressively protected.
Source: PC World, “Google lawsuit against Rockstar to stay in California,” April 17, 2014
