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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
`WESTERN DIVISION
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`B.E. TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.,
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`Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant,
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`v.
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`GROUPON, INC.,
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`Defendant/Counterclaimant.
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`Civil Action No. 2:12-cv-02781-JPM cgc
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`JURY DEMAND
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`DECLARATION OF MARTIN DAVID HOYLE IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S
`MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO TRANSFER
`VENUE PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a)
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`I, Martin David Hoyle, declare as follows:
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`1.
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`I am the Chief Executive Officer of Plaintiff B.E. Technology, L.L.C. (“B.E.”). I
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`make this Declaration in support of B.E.’s Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant Groupon,
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`Inc.’s Motion to Transfer Venue Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). I have personal knowledge of
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`the facts stated herein and could testify competently to them if asked to do so.
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`2.
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`In April 2006, I moved with my son from our home in Mandeville, Louisiana to
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`Eads, Tennessee. My wife and daughter joined us one month later when my daughter’s school
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`year ended. We left Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina and chose the Memphis area because
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`I obtained a consulting contract with Hilton Hotels and considered Memphis a good location for
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`other work I thought would be available to me.
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`3.
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`My wife and I lived in Eads from April 2006 until May 2012. Our address during
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`that time was 1888 North Reid-Hooker Cove, Eads, Tennessee 38028.
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`Case 2:12-cv-02781-JPM-cgc Document 27-1 Filed 01/31/13 Page 2 of 3 PageID 204
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`4.
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`Over time, I have considered a return to Louisiana. During part of the time I was
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`living in Eads, I planned to return to Louisiana and took steps to establish residence there while
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`my non-B.E. work required my presence in the Memphis area. Ultimately, my wife and I chose
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`to remain in Tennessee. In February 2012, my wife and I made an offer to purchase a home in
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`Cordova, part of the City of Memphis. The offer was accepted. In May 2012, we closed on the
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`home and moved from Eads to Cordova. Our current address is 116 West Viking Drive,
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`Cordova, Tennessee 38018. The decision my wife and I made to buy a home in Cordova and
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`stay in Tennessee was not designed to create venue in this District.
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`5.
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`I founded B.E. in August 1997 to develop Internet-related technologies on which I
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`had been working. I received strategic advice and investments from individuals in Michigan.
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`B.E. incorporated in Delaware and maintained a registered office in Michigan where its
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`accountant resides.
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`6.
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`I served as B.E.’s President from 1997 to 2001. From 2006 to 2008, I co-
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`managed the company with Mark McKinley. I was appointed Chief Executive Officer of B.E. in
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`2008 and remain in that position today.
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`7.
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`B.E. is the assignee of several United States patents, including Patent No.
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`6,628,314 (the “’314 patent”). I am the named inventor of the ’314 patent. B.E.’s documents,
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`including those relating to the conception and reduction to practice of the inventions disclosed in
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`those patents are physically located in Cordova, Tennessee, and have been located in the Western
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`District of Tennessee since I moved here in 2006.
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`8.
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`B.E. is registered to conduct business in Tennessee. In July 2012, while we were
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`preparing to file suit to enforce B.E.’s patents, I was advised by B.E.’s accountant that B.E. had
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`not registered to conduct business in Tennessee. B.E. began the process of registering in August
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`- 2 -
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`2013-01-3013242
`Davidfloyle
`9914149912»
`550-593-5301
`Case 2:12-cv-02781-JPM-cgc Document 27-1 Filed 01/31/13 Page 3 of 3 PageID 205
`Case 2:12—cv—O2781—JPM—cgc Document 27-1 Filed 01/31/13 Page3of3 Page|D 205
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`pzrz
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`2012. The process was delayed because B.E. had not made payments necessary to maintain
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`good standing in Delaware. Our Delaware agent failed to send required information to the
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`correct address, and the payments were not made. The Tennessee registration process was
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`completed in September after B.E. corrected the situation in Delaware.
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`9.
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`If this lawsuit is transferred from the Western District of Tennessee to the
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`Northern District of California, it will impose a significant financial burden on B.E. If I am
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`required to travel to California for litigation, B.E. will incur expenses it will not incur if the case
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`remains in Memphis. In addition. I will personally sufiier a financial harm if this case is
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`transferred to California. In addition to my duties and responsibilities as the Chief Executive
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`Officer of B.E., I maintain a technology consulting firm in Tennessee known as Webnet Media
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`L.L.C. As a consultant, I am typically paid only for the hours I work. [fl am required to take
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`the time to travel across the country to serve as a witness or company representative for B.E. in
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`California, I will lose consulting opportunities and hours that I otherwise could work here in
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`Tennessee.
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`I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is
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`true and correct.
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`Executed this _c20day ofJanuary, 2013, in Cordova, Tennessee.
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` Martin David oyle