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`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`WACO DIVISION
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`6-20-CV-00505-ADA
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`MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
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`Before the Court is Defendant Apple Inc.’s (“Apple”) Motion to Transfer venue (ECF No.
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`NEONODE SMARTPHONE LLC,
` Plaintiff,
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`v.
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`APPLE INC.,
` Defendant.
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`27) to the Northern District of California (“NDCA”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). After careful
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`consideration of the parties’ briefs and the applicable law, the Court DENIES Apple’s motion.
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`I. BACKGROUND
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`Plaintiff Neonode Smartphones LLC (“Neonode”) filed this lawsuit against Apple on June
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`8, 2020, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,095,879 and 8,812,993 (the “Asserted
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`Patents”). ECF No. 1. On the same day, Neonode filed another lawsuit against Samsung
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`Electronics Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (collectively, “Samsung), asserting
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`the same two patents. See Neonode Smartphone LLC v. Samsung Elecs. Co. Ltd., No. 6-20-cv-
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`00507-ADA, Dkt. #1 (Jun. 8. 2020). Apple filed the instant Motion to Transfer under 28 U.S.C.
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`§ 1404(a), requesting that this case be transferred from the Western District of Texas (“WDTX”)
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`to the NDCA. ECF No. 27. The Motion has been subsequently fully briefed by the parties. ECF
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`Nos. 52 (Response) and 59 (Reply).
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`1
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`Case 6:20-cv-00505-ADA Document 65 Filed 07/19/21 Page 2 of 14
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`Neonode is a Wyoming limited liability company with its principal place of business also
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`in Wyoming. ECF No. 1 at ¶ 6. Apple is a California corporation headquartered in Cupertino,
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`California, which is in the NDCA. ECF No. 27 at 3. Apple also has one of its largest corporate
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`campuses in Austin, Texas, within the WDTX, “with approximately 7,000 employees in the City”
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`as of November 20, 2019.1 See also ECF No. 1 at ¶ 7.
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`II. LEGAL STANDARD
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`In patent cases, motions to transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) are governed by the law of
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`the regional circuit. In re TS Tech USA Corp., 551 F.3d 1315, 1319 (Fed. Cir. 2008). 28 U.S.C.
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`§ 1404(a) provides that, “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, . . . a district court may
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`transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought or to
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`any district or division to which all parties have consented.” Id. “Section 1404(a) is intended to
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`place discretion in the district court to adjudicate motions for transfer according to an
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`‘individualized, case-by-case consideration of convenience and fairness.’” Stewart Org., Inc. v.
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`Ricoh Corp., 487 U.S. 22, 29 (1988) (quoting Van Dusen v. Barrack, 376 U.S. 612, 622 (1964)).
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`The preliminary question under Section 1404(a) is whether a civil action “might have been
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`brought” in the transfer destination venue.” In re Volkswagen, Inc., 545 F.3d 304, 312 (5th Cir.
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`2008) (“Volkswagen II”). If the destination venue would have been a proper venue, then “[t]he
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`determination of ‘convenience’ turns on a number of public and private interest factors, none of
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`which can be said to be of dispositive weight.” Action Indus., Inc. v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 358
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`F.3d 337, 340 (5th Cir. 2004). The private factors include: “(1) the relative ease of access to sources
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`of proof; (2) the availability of compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses; (3) the
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`cost of attendance for willing witnesses; and (4) all other practical problems that make trial of a
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`1 https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/11/apple-expands-in-austin/
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`2
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`Case 6:20-cv-00505-ADA Document 65 Filed 07/19/21 Page 3 of 14
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`case easy, expeditious and inexpensive.” In re Volkswagen AG, 371 F.3d 201, 203 (5th Cir. 2004)
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`(“Volkswagen I”) (citing Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 241 n.6 (1982)). The public
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`factors include: “(1) the administrative difficulties flowing from court congestion; (2) the local
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`interest in having localized interests decided at home; (3) the familiarity of the forum with the law
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`that will govern the case; and (4) the avoidance of unnecessary problems of conflict of laws of the
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`application of foreign law.” Id. Courts evaluate these factors based on the situation which existed
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`at the time of filing, rather than relying on hindsight knowledge of the defendant’s forum
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`preference. Hoffman v. Blaski, 363 U.S. 335, 343 (1960).
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`The burden to prove that a case should be transferred for convenience falls squarely on the
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`moving party. In re Vistaprint Ltd., 628 F.3d 1342, 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2010). The burden that a
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`movant must carry is not that the alternative venue is more convenient, but that it is clearly more
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`convenient. Volkswagen II, 545 F.3d at 314 n.10. Although the plaintiff’s choice of forum is not a
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`separate factor entitled to special weight, respect for the plaintiff’s choice of forum is encompassed
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`in the movant’s elevated burden to “clearly demonstrate” that the proposed transferee forum is
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`“clearly more convenient” than the forum in which the case was filed. In re Vistaprint Ltd., 628
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`F.3d at 314–15. While “clearly more convenient” is not necessarily equivalent to “clear and
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`convincing,” the moving party “must show materially more than a mere preponderance of
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`convenience, lest the standard have no real or practical meaning.” Quest NetTech Corp. v. Apple,
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`Inc., No. 2:19-cv-118, 2019 WL 6344267, at *7 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 27, 2019).
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`III. ANALYSIS
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`The threshold determination under the Section 1404 analysis is whether this case could
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`initially have been brought in the transferee venue—here, the NDCA. Neither party contests that
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`Case 6:20-cv-00505-ADA Document 65 Filed 07/19/21 Page 4 of 14
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`venue is proper in the NDCA and that this case could have been brought there. Thus, the Court
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`proceeds with its analysis of the private and public interest factors as provided in Volkswagen I.
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`A. Private Interest Factors
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`i. The Relative Ease of Access to Sources of Proof
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`“In considering the relative ease of access to proof, a court looks to where documentary
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`evidence, such as documents and physical evidence, is stored.” Fintiv Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 6:18-
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`cv-00372, 2019 WL 4743678, at *2 (W.D. Tex. Sept. 10, 2019). “[T]he question is relative ease
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`of access, not absolute ease of access.” In re Radmax, 720 F.3d 285, 288 (5th Cir. 2013) (emphases
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`in original). Witnesses are not sources of proof to be analyzed under this factor; rather, analyses
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`pertaining to witnesses are assessed under the second or third private factors. In re Apple Inc., 979
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`F.3d 1332, 1339 (Fed. Cir. 2020) (“This factor relates to the ease of access to non-witness
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`evidence, such as documents and other physical evidence.”); Netlist, Inc. v. SK hynix Inc. et al,
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`No. 6:20-cv-00194-ADA, Dkt. #87 at 11 (W.D. Tex. Feb. 2, 2021) (“The first private factor, ease
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`of access to sources of proof, considers ‘documents and physical evidence’ as opposed to
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`witnesses.”) (emphasis added).
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`Although the physical location of electronic documents does affect the outcome of this
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`factor under current Fifth Circuit precedent (see Volkswagen II, 545 F.3d at 316), this Court has
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`stressed that the focus on physical location of electronic documents is out of touch with modern
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`patent litigation. Fintiv, 2019 WL 4743678, at *8; Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc., 6-19-CV-00532-
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`ADA, 2020 WL 3415880, at *9 (W.D. Tex. June 22, 2020) (“[A]ll (or nearly all) produced
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`documents exist as electronic documents on a party’s server. Then, with a click of a mouse or a
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`few keystrokes, the party [can] produce[] these documents” and make them available at almost
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`any location.). Other courts in the Fifth Circuit similarly found that access to documents that are
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`available electronically provides little benefit in determining whether a particular venue is more
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`convenient than another. See, e.g., Uniloc USA Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Am., No. 2:16-cv-642-JRG,
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`2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 229560, at *17 (E.D. Tex. Apr. 19, 2017) (“Despite the absence of newer
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`cases acknowledging that in today’s digital world computer stored documents are readily
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`moveable to almost anywhere at the click of a mouse, the Court finds it odd to ignore this reality
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`in favor of a fictional analysis that has more to do with early Xerox machines than modern server
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`forms.”); see also LBS Innov'ns LLC v. Apple Inc., 2020 WL 923887, at *5 (E.D. Tex. Feb. 26,
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`2020).
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`Apple contends that the research, design, and development of the accused technology in
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`the accused products took place in the NDCA and the relevant key documents were generated in
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`the NDCA. ECF No. 27 at 9-10. Apple does not contend that those documents are electronically
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`stored and can be accessed outside the NDCA, including in the WDTX. Instead, Apple contends
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`that its “electronically-stored information is only accessible to employees ‘with the proper
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`credentials’ on a need-to-know basis.” ECF No. 59 at 1. However, Apple does not show that the
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`“proper credentials” have not been or cannot be given to Apple employees located in Austin, Texas
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`for the purpose of this litigation or in general. If anything, cooperating in discovery in a litigation
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`would be a good “need-to-know” basis to provide the proper credentials to Apple’s employees
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`located in this District.
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`Apple further contends that its relevant employees are all based in the NDCA and “likely
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`witnesses . . . concerning the marking, sales and financial information for the Accused Products”
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`are located there. ECF No. 27 at 10. However, Courts have made it clear that analyses related to
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`witnesses are not proper under this factor and should instead be considered in the second and third
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`private factors. See, e.g., In re Apple Inc., 979 F.3d at 1339. In view of the above, the Court finds
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`that this factor is neutral.
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`ii. The Availability of Compulsory Process to Secure the Attendance of Witnesses
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`For this factor, the Court considers particularly non-party witnesses whose attendance may
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`need to be secured by a court order. Fintiv, 2019 WL 4743678, at *5 (citing Volkswagen II, 545
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`F.3d at 316); Uniloc, 2020 WL 3415880, at *10. This factor “weigh[s] heavily in favor of transfer
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`when more third-party witnesses reside within the transferee venue than reside in the transferor
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`venue.” In re Apple, Inc., 581 F. App’x. 886, 889 (Fed. Cir. 2014). Under the Federal Rules, a
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`court may subpoena a witness to attend trial only (a) “within 100 miles of where the person resides,
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`is employed, or regularly transacts business in person”; or (b) “within the state where the person
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`resides, is employed, or regularly transacts business in person, if the person . . . is commanded to
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`attend a trial and would not incur substantial expense.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(c)(1)(A), (B)(ii);
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`Gemalto S.A. v. CPI Card Grp. Inc., No. 15-CA-0910, 2015 WL 10818740, at *4 (W.D. Tex. Dec.
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`16, 2015). As party witnesses almost invariably attend trial willingly, “[w]hen no party has alleged
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`or shown any witness’s unwillingness, a court should not attach much weight to the compulsory
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`process factor.” CloudofChange, LLC v. NCR Corp., No. 6-19-cv-00513 (W.D. Tex. Mar. 17,
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`2020) (citation omitted).
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`Apple generally contends that “most of the key relevant third parties” are located in NDCA,
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`including those from Neonode’s parent company Aequitas Technologies, its prosecution counsel
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`Soquel Group, and Neonode Inc., the original assignee of the Asserted Patents. ECF No. 27 at 10.
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`Neonode counters that none of the pertinent personnel associated with these entities works or
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`resides in NDCA—they all reside outside of the United States, with the only exception of Anuj
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`Arora, Aequitas’ Director of Engineering, who resides in the Central District of California
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`(“CDCA”) and is willing to travel to WDTX for this case. ECF No. 52 at 5. Further, the sole
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`inventor of the Asserted Patents, Magnus Goertz, resides in Sweden and is outside of the subpoena
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`power of either the NDCA or WDTX. Id. at 6. Apple does not dispute these facts. Instead, Apple
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`further asserts that GBoard and Swype, the two third-party apps name in Neonode’s Complaint,
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`are offered by Google Inc. (which is headquartered in the Mountain View, California, in the
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`NDCA) and Nuance Communications (which is based in Boston, Massachusetts but has offices in
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`the CDCA and NDCA), respectively, and that “Neonode will be required to subpoena Google and
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`Nuance.” ECF No. 27 at 6 and 11; No. 59 at 3. First, just as the convenience of a plaintiff’s willing
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`witnesses should be given little weight, the plaintiff’s choice of seeking evidence from third parties
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`should also be given little weight. See Netlist, No. 6:20-cv-00194-ADA, Dkt. #87 at 13. When
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`Neonode chose to file this case in the WDTX, it has already taken into consideration that it would
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`need to seek evidence from third parties outside of this District, such as Google and Nuance.
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`Second, Apple identifies no specific Google or Nuance witnesses other than making a
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`general allegation that “compulsory process over Google and Nuance is available in NDCA, but
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`not in WDTX.” ECF No. 59 at 3. However, such general allegations are not enough. See, e.g.,
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`Core Wireless Licensing, S.A.R.L. v. Apple, Inc., No. 6:12-cv-100 LED-JDL, 2013 WL 682849, at
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`*3 (E.D. Tex. Feb. 22, 2013) (“The Court gives more weight to those specifically identified
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`witnesses and affords less weight to vague assertions that witnesses are likely located in a
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`particular forum.”); ADS Sec. L.P. v. Advanced Detection Sec. Servs., Inc., 2010 WL 1170976, at
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`*3 (W.D. Tex. Mar. 23, 2010) (“A party seeking a transfer of venue must do more than make
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`general allegations that key witnesses are unavailable or are inconveniently located.”); 15 Wright,
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`A. Miller & E. Cooper, Fed. Prac. & Proc. § 3851 (3d ed. 2007) (“If the moving party merely has
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`made a general allegation that necessary witnesses are located in the transferee forum, without
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`identifying them and providing sufficient information to permit the district court to determine what
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`and how important their testimony will be, the application for transferring the case should be
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`denied.”). Therefore, the Court finds that this factor is also neutral.
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`iii. The Cost of Attendance for Willing Witnesses
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`“The convenience of witnesses is the single most important factor in the transfer analysis.”
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`Fintiv, 2019 WL 4743678, at *6. “Courts properly give more weight to the convenience of non-
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`party witnesses than to party witnesses.” Netlist, No. 6:20-cv-00194-ADA, Dkt. #87 at 13; see also
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`Moskowitz Family LLC v. Globus Med., Inc., No. 6:19-cv-00672-ADA, 2020 WL 4577710, at *4
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`(W.D. Tex. Jul. 2, 2020).
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`As a preliminary matter, given typical time limits at trial, the Court does not assume that
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`all of the party and third-party witnesses listed in Section 1404(a) briefing will testify at trial.
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`Fintiv, 2019 WL 4743678, at *6. Rather, in addition to the party’s experts, the Court assumes that
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`no more than a few party witnesses—and even fewer third-party witnesses, if any—will testify
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`live at trial. Id. Therefore, long lists of potential party and third-party witnesses do not affect the
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`Court’s analysis for this factor. Id.
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`Apple’s main argument for this factor is that its employee witnesses are located in NDCA
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`and provides a list of its employees as potential witnesses who might testify at trial. ECF No. 27
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`at 3-4 and 11-12. In response, Neonode provides a competing list of Apple employees located in
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`WDTX that might testify at trial for the same aspects of the accused products at a trial. ECF No.
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`52. As this Court has made clear, “the convenience of party witnesses is given little weight.”
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`SynKloud Techs., LLC v. Dropbox, Inc., No. 6:19-CV-00526-ADA, 2020 WL 2528545, at *5
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`(W.D. Tex. May 18, 2020); see also Turner v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 2020 WL 210809, at *4 (W.D.
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`Tex. Jan. 14, 2020) (“[Defendant] cannot cite inconvenience of its employee witnesses as the basis
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`for transfer.”). Further, when party witnesses located in this District are equally qualified and
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`available to testify as witnesses located in a different district, the party cannot say that this District
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`is inconvenient for its employee witnesses simply because it “choses” to call those witnesses
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`outside of this District.
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`As for non-party witnesses, whose convenience should be given relatively more weight
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`than party witnesses, Apple does not dispute that potential third-party witnesses from Aequitas,
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`Neonode Inc, and Soquel Group all reside outside of the Unites States, with the sole exception of
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`Mr. Arora, who resides in the CDCA. See ECF No. 52 at 5-6 and 10. Among those, the sole
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`inventor of the Asserted Patents, Mr. Goertz, resides in Sweden, and the patent agent who
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`prosecuted the Asserted Patent, Marc Berger, resides in Israel. Id. Apple contends that NDCA
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`would be “more or equally convenient” for third-party witnesses since at least flights from
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`Stockholm to San Francisco are fasters than Stockholm to Waco. ECF No. 27 at 12. The Court is
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`not persuaded that traveling from Sweden or Israel to San Francisco would be cheaper or more
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`convenient than to Waco, Texas. Any differences between the travel time and costs to the two
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`destinations would be insignificant compared to the actual time and effort required for the
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`international travels. If anything, hotels in Waco are significantly cheaper on average than those
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`in San Francisco. See Netlist, No. 6:20-cv-00194-ADA, Dkt. #87 at 13 (finding no significant
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`difference between traveling from South Korea to Santa Ana, California and from South Korea to
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`Waco, Texas). Accordingly, this Court finds that this factor is also neutral.
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`iv. All Other Practical Problems That Make Trial of a Case Easy, Expeditious and
`Inexpensive
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`When considering the private interest factors, courts must consider “all other practical
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`problems that make trial of a case easy, expeditious and inexpensive.” Volkswagen II, 545 F.3d at
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`314. “Particularly, the existence of duplicative suits involving the same or similar issues may
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`create practical difficulties that will weigh heavily in favor or against transfer.” PersonalWeb
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`Techs., LLC v. NEC Corp. of Am., Inc., No. 6:11-cv-655, 2013 WL 9600333, at *5 (E.D. Tex. Mar.
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`21, 2013). “[W]here there is a co-pending litigation . . . involving the same patent-in-suit, . . .
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`pertaining to the same underlying technology and accusing similar services, . . . the Federal Circuit
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`cannot say the trial court clearly abuses its discretion in denying transfer.” In re Vistaprint Ltd.,
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`628 F.3d 1342, 1346 n.3 (Fed. Cir. 2010).
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`Neonode contends that this factor weighs heavily against transfer because of the co-
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`pending Samsung case involves the same two asserted patents and very similar accused
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`technologies. ECF No. 52 at 10-11. Neonode also points out that while Apple has moved to transfer
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`this case to the NDCA, Samsung has not.2 Apple counters that this case and the Samsung case are
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`separate cases and “the only issue that can truly be jointly decided is claim construction.” ECF No.
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`27 at 13 and No. 59 at 3-4. The Court’s disagrees with Apple’s downplay of how much judicial
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`resources could have been saved if this case and the Samsung cases are decided together in this
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`Court. First, claim construction is one of the most important issues in a patent infringement case
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`and can potentially determine the outcome of a case and guide the parties in determining whether
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`to settle or bring the case to trial. Both the parties and the Court would spend a significant amount
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`of time and money on the claim construction briefing, hearing, and order. For the claim
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`construction issue alone, a significant amount of judicial resources can be saved if the two cases
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`are decided together. Further, if the Apple case is transferred to NDCA and the Samsung case
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`remains in this Court, the parties would face the risk of inconsistent constructions of the same
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`claim terms from two district courts, which could unfairly prejudice the parties. Second, since the
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`2 The Court notes that while Samsung has not filed a motion to transfer the Samsung case out of the WDTX, it filed a
`notice on May 4, 2021 in the Samsung case that it does not oppose to Apple’s Motion to Transfer in this case. Neonode
`Smartphone LLC v. Samsung Elecs. Co. Ltd., No. 20-cv-00507-ADA at Dkt. #47. The Court does not think the notice
`filed in the Samsung case affects the Section 1404(a) analysis in this case.
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`same two patents are asserted, the invalidity issue of the two patents will significantly overlap, if
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`not identical, in the Apple and Samsung cases. Lastly, as a general practice, this Court customarily
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`requires parties in related cases to coordinate all aspects of the cases until pre-trial, which would
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`further save judicial resources and facilitate expeditious resolution of both cases. See ECF No. 52
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`at 12.
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`Therefore, the Court finds that this factor strongly weighs against transfer. This is in
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`accordance with the Supreme Court’s observation that “[t]o permit a situation in which two cases
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`involving precisely the same issues are simultaneously pending in different District Courts leads
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`to the wastefulness of time, energy, and money that § 1404(a) was designed to prevent.” Cont’l
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`Grain Co. v. The FBL-585, 364 U.S. 19, 26 (1960); see also In re Volkswagen of Am., Inc., 566
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`F.3d 1349, 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (“Judicial economy is served by having the same district court
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`try … cases involving the same patents.”); In re Vistaprint, 628 F.3d at 1346 (noting that “co-
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`pending litigation before the trial court involving the same patent and underlying technology”
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`provides “substantial justification” for denying transfer).
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`B. Public Interest Factors
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`i. Administrative Difficulties Flowing from Court Congestion
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`The relevant inquiry under this factor is “[t]he speed with which a case can come to trial
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`and be resolved[.]” In re Genentech, Inc., 566 F.3d 1338, 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2009). A faster average
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`time to trial means a more efficient and economical resolutions of the claims at issue. Thus, this
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`factor “generally favors a district that can bring a case to trial faster.” Found. Med., Inc. v.
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`Guardant Health, Inc., 2017 WL 590297, at *3 (E.D. Tex. Feb. 14, 2017).
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`Apple alleges that patent cases in the NDCA “have a slightly shorter time to trial than W.D.
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`Tex. – since 2008, a median of 2.39 versus 2.59 years,” and that “this Court has a large (and rapidly
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`increasing) number of patent cases currently pending in Waco,” while judges in the NDCA have
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`far fewer. ECF No. 27 at 14. However, more recent data shows that “for patent cases since 2016,
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`the average time to trial in NDCA was 34.1 months.” Demaray LLC v Samsung Electronics Co.,
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`et al., No. 6-20-cv-636-ADA, Dkt. #115 at 11 (W.D. Tex. Jul. 1, 2021). By contrast, this Court’s
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`Order Governing Proceedings – Patent Case (“OGP”) sets patent cases for trial at 52 weeks after
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`Markman hearings. Despite the large number of cases pending before this Court, the Court has
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`been able to bring patent cases to trial approximately in accordance with its guidance in the OGP.
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`See, e.g., CloudofChange, LLC v. NCR Corporation, No. 6-19-cv-00513 (W.D. Tex., filed Aug.
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`30, 2019) (20.3 months from case filing to trial); VLSI Technology LLC v. Intel Corporation, No.
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`6-21-cv-00057 (W.D. Tex., filed Apr. 11, 2019) (22.4 months from case filing to trial); Freshub,
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`Inc. et al v. Amazon.Com Inc. et al, No. 6-21-cv-00511 (W.D. Tex., filed Jun. 24, 2019) (23.7
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`months from case filing to trial); ESW Holdings, Inc. v. Roku, Inc. No. 6-19-cv-00044 (W.D. Tex.,
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`filed Feb. 8, 2019) (25.9 months from case filing to trial). Therefore, the time to trial for patent
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`cases in the Waco Division is almost 12 months shorter on average than in the NDCA.
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`Further, the trial backlog in NDCA caused by courthouse closures due to the COVID-19
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`pandemic beginning in March 2020 would make the time to trial for patent cases, and all cases in
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`general, even longer. As Apple points out, civil trials have been temporarily suspended in NDCA
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`due to COVID-19, and jury trials would not resume until at least June 3, 2021—after more than
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`one year since the COVID-19 pandemic began. ECF No. 59 at 5. By contract, this Court conducted
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`its first patent jury trial during the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020, and has since conducted
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`at least seven jury trials, six of which are patent jury trials. In the first half of 2021 alone, this Court
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`has already conducted five patent jury trials in the Waco courthouse. Taken these into
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`consideration, the differences in average time to trial in this Court and the NDCA could be much
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`longer than 12 months.
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`Considering the relative court congestion in NDCA and in the Waco Division, the Court
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`finds that this factor weighs strongly against transfer.
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`ii. Local Interest in Having Localized Interests Decided at Home
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`Under this factor, the Court must evaluate whether there is a local interest in deciding local
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`issues at home. Volkswagen II, 545 F.3d at 317. “A local interest is demonstrated by a relevant
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`factual connection between the events and the venue.” Word to Info, Inc. v. Facebook, Inc., No.
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`3:14-cv-04387-K, 2015 WL 13870507, at *4 (N.D. Tex. Jul. 23, 2015).
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`Apple argues that NDCA has a strong local interest in this matter because the research,
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`design, development, and operation of the accused technology took place there, Apple is
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`headquartered there, and all of its likely witnesses are there. ECF No. 27 at 15. On the other hand,
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`Neonode points out that Apple also has significant presence in the WDTX, with over 6,000
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`employees in the Austin area and five retail stores located in this District. ECF No. 52 at 14.
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`Although both districts have a significant interest in this matter, the Court finds that this factor
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`slight favors transfer given Apple’s relatively bigger presence in the NDCA.
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`iii. Remaining Public Factors are Neutral
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`Both parties agree that the remaining two public factors are neutral. ECF No. 27 at 15; ECF
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`No. 52 at 15. The Court also finds that these two factors are neutral.
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`Case 6:20-cv-00505-ADA Document 65 Filed 07/19/21 Page 14 of 14
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`IV. CONCLUSION
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`Having considered the Section 1404(a) factors, the Court finds that Apple has not met its
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`significant burden to demonstrate that the NDCA is “clearly more convenient” than this District.
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`Therefore, the Court DENIES Apple’s Motion to Transfer.
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`SIGNED this 19th day of July, 2021.
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`ALAN D ALBRIGHT
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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