Stephenson v. Game Show Network, LLC

933 F. Supp. 2d 674, 2013 WL 1226915, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43193
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedMarch 27, 2013
DocketCiv. No. 12-614-SLR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 933 F. Supp. 2d 674 (Stephenson v. Game Show Network, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stephenson v. Game Show Network, LLC, 933 F. Supp. 2d 674, 2013 WL 1226915, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43193 (D. Del. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SUE L. ROBINSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On May 17, 2012, plaintiff John H. Stephenson (“plaintiff’) filed this patent infringement action against defendants Game Show Network, LLC (“GSN”) and WorldWinner.com, Inc. (“WW”) (collectively “defendants”). (D.I. 1) Plaintiff alleges that certain “games of skill tournaments” offered by defendants through their websites infringe his U.S. Patent No. 6,174,237 (“the '237 patent”). (D.I. 1 at ¶ 15) Pending before the court is defendants’ motion to transfer venue to the District of Massachusetts. (D.L 7) and defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs indirect infringement claims (D.I. 5). The court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a). For the reasons that follow, the motion to transfer is denied and the motion to dismiss plaintiffs indirect infringement claims is granted.

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, an individual, is a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma. (D.I. 1 at ¶ 1) GSN is a limited liability company formed and existing under the laws of Delaware, with its principal place of business in Saiita Moni[676]*676ca, California. (D.I. 1 at ¶ 2) WW is incorporated under the laws of Delaware and has its principal place of business in Waltham, Massachusetts. (D.I. 1 at ¶ 3; D.I. 10 at ¶ 2) According to WW, virtually all of its business and technical operations, including the design and programming of its website, worldwinner.com, take place in Waltham, Massachusetts. (D.I. 8 at 2) Further, many of GSN’s digital operations are also located in WW’s Massachusetts offices. (Id.)

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A. Venue

Section 1404(a) of Title 28 of the United States Code grants district courts the authority to transfer venue “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interests of justice ... to any other district or division where it might have been brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Much has been written about the legal standard for motions to transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). See, e.g., In re Link-A-Media Devices Corp., 662 F.3d 1221 (Fed.Cir. 2011); Jumara v. State Farm Ins. Co., 55 F.3d 873 (3d Cir.1995); Helicos Biosciences Corp. v. Illumina, Inc., 858 F.Supp.2d 367 (D.Del.2012).

Referring specifically to the analytical framework described in Héticos, the court starts with the premise that a defendant’s state of incorporation has always been “a predictable, legitimate venue for bringing suit” and that “a plaintiff, as the injured party, generally ha[s] been ‘accorded [the] privilege of bringing an action where he chooses.’ ” 858 F.Supp.2d at 371 (quoting Norwood v. Kirkpatrick, 349 U.S. 29, 31, 75 S.Ct. 544, 99 L.Ed. 789 (1955)). Indeed, the Third Circuit in Jumara reminds the reader that “[t]he burden of establishing the need for transfer ... rests with the movant” and that, “in ruling on defendants’ motion, the plaintiffs choice of venue should not be lightly disturbed.” 55 F.3d at 879 (citation omitted).

The Third Circuit goes on to recognize that,

[i]n ruling on § 1404(a) motions, courts have not limited their consideration to the three enumerated factors in § 1404(a) (cónvenience of parties, convenience of witnesses, or interests of justice), and, indeed, commentators have called on the courts to “consider all relevant factors to determine whether on balance the litigation would more conveniently proceed and the interests of justice be better served by transfer to a different forum.”

Id. (citation omitted). The Court then describes some of the “many variants of the private and public interests protected by the language of § 1404(a).” Id.

The private interests have included: plaintiffs forum of preference as manifested in the original choice; the defendant’s preference; whether the claim arose elsewhere; the convenience of the parties as indicated by their relative physical and financial condition; the convenience of the witnesses — but only to the extent that the witnesses may actually be unavailable for trial in one of the fora; and the location of books and records (similarly limited to the extent that the files could not be produced in the alternative forum).
The public interests have included: the enforceability of the judgment; practical considerations that could make the trial easy, expeditious, or inexpensive; the relative administrative difficulty in the two fora resulting from court congestion; the local interest in deciding local controversies at home; the public policies of the fora; and the familiarity of [677]*677the trial judge with the applicable state law in diversity cases.

Id. (citations omitted) (emphasis added).

B. Indirect Infringement

In reviewing a motion filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the court must accept all factual allegations in a complaint as true and take them in the light most favorable to plaintiff. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007); Christopher v. Harbury, 536 U.S. 403, 406, 122 S.Ct. 2179, 153 L.Ed.2d 413 (2002). A court may consider the pleadings, public record, orders, exhibits attached to the complaint, and documents incorporated into the complaint by reference. Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 322, 127 S.Ct. 2499, 168 L.Ed.2d 179 (2007); Oshiver v. Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman, 38 F.3d 1380, 1384-85 n. 2 (3d Cir.1994). A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, in order to give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 545, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (internal quotation marks omitted) (interpreting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)).

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Bluebook (online)
933 F. Supp. 2d 674, 2013 WL 1226915, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43193, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stephenson-v-game-show-network-llc-ded-2013.