TORCUP, INC. v. PRESCO ENGINEERING, INC.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 27, 2025
Docket5:25-cv-00413
StatusUnknown

This text of TORCUP, INC. v. PRESCO ENGINEERING, INC. (TORCUP, INC. v. PRESCO ENGINEERING, INC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
TORCUP, INC. v. PRESCO ENGINEERING, INC., (E.D. Pa. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

TORCUP, INC. : CIVIL ACTION v. NO. 25-413 PRESCO ENGINEERING, INC.

MEMORANDUM OPINION Henry, J. c/ CW May 27, 2025 This case is before me on Defendant Presco Engineering, Inc.’s (“Presco”) Motion to Transfer Venue (ECF No. 11) (“Mot.”). For the reasons that follow, I deny Presco’s Motion. Plaintiff TorcUP, Inc. (“TorcUP”) lawfully chose the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to bring its claims against Presco, and I am not persuaded by Presco’s purported reasons to transfer the case to the District of Connecticut. Therefore, this case will proceed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. I BACKGROUND In analyzing this motion to transfer venue, I rely on the allegations in the complaint, as well as the briefing and exhibits. See Fellner ex rel. Est. of Fellner v. Phila. Toboggan Coasters, Inc., No. 05-cv-2052, 2005 WL 2660351, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 18, 2005) (“The court may examine facts outside the complaint to determine proper venue, but must draw all reasonable inferences and resolve all factual conflicts in the plaintiff's favor.”). TorcUP is incorporated in Pennsylvania and has its principal place of business in Easton, Pennsylvania. Complaint (ECF No. 1) (“Compl.”) § 1. TorcUP manufactures battery-powered torque wrenches called Voltas, for which it sought to develop additional and more advanced functionality. Jd. J§ 26, 28. Presco indicated it would be capable of redesigning the Volta. □□□

¶ 29. Presco is incorporated and has its principal place of business in Connecticut. Id. ¶ 2. On April 26, 2022, TorcUP employees went to Presco’s offices in Connecticut to tour Presco’s facility and gauge Presco’s capabilities. See Plaintiff’s Brief in Opposition (ECF No. 12) (“Opp.”) Ex. 1 (“Kovac Aff.”) ¶ 11. Following the visit, TorcUP and Presco engaged in telephonic and email negotiations of a contract. Id. ¶ 12. On July 26, 2022, Presco sent TorcUP a work order pursuant

to which Presco would perform a strategic assessment for the needs to program the Volta in return for $15,000. Id. ¶ 13. TorcUP’s Special Projects Manager signed the document in Easton, and TorcUP then sent a sample Volta to Presco, as well as two $7,500 payments originating from a Pennsylvania bank. Id. ¶¶ 14-16. On October 5, 2022 Presco employees visited TorcUP’s Easton plant to gather information on what would be needed for the project. Id. ¶¶ 17-18. On November 10, 2022, TorcUP employees dropped off calibration equipment at Presco’s address in Connecticut. Id. ¶ 19. Throughout November, Presco and TorcUP negotiated via telephone and email the terms of the agreement pursuant to which Presco would develop software for the redesign of Volta wrenches, which

resulted in a second work order that TorcUP received digitally. Id. ¶¶ 20-22. The agreement had a discounted budget of over $399,000 and provided that Presco anticipated completion in 40 calendar weeks. Compl. ¶¶ 38, 40. TorcUP executed the agreement on November 21, 2022 and returned it digitally to Presco. Kovac Aff. ¶ 23. From November 2022 through June 2024, Presco sent software for Volta to TorcUP for TorcUP to perform testing, after which TorcUP would contact Presco via phone, email, and Zoom from Easton to update them on why the software was unsatisfactory. Id. ¶¶ 24-27. On June 28, 2024, Presco visited TorcUP’s Easton location, after which Presco sent additional software to TorcUP for testing. Id. ¶¶ 28-29. TorcUP notified Presco via telephone, email, or video of continued software failures. Id. ¶ 32. On September 17, 2024, a Presco employee visited the TorcUP plant for three days to attempt to correct the software failures, which was unsuccessful. Id. ¶¶ 34-36. TorcUP brought suit after Presco did not provide TorcUP with any successfully completed deliverables pursuant to the second work order after 116 calendar weeks from signing that agreement. Compl. ¶ 43. TorcUP alleges it had paid Presco a total of $415,141.12 and had also

entrusted Presco with equipment to facilitate the work on the Volta wrench, valued at over $77,000, which Presco refused to return to TorcUP. Id. ¶¶ 45-50. The equipment remains in Connecticut. Mot. Ex. A. (“Black Aff.”) ¶ 6. TorcUP brings claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and conversion. Presco has moved to transfer the case to the District of Connecticut. II. ANALYSIS As an initial matter, Presco does not make clear whether it concedes that the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is a venue in which this case could have been brought. Therefore, I will begin my analysis with whether venue is proper in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Finding that it is proper, I will move on to whether venue could be proper in the District of Connecticut.

Since venue is also proper in the District of Connecticut, I will conclude with an analysis of whether transfer of venue from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to the District of Connecticut is proper. I hold that the case should not be transferred. A. Whether Venue is Proper in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania According to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), a civil action may be brought in: (1) a judicial district in which any defendant resides, if all defendants are residents of the State in which the district is located; (2) a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated; or (3) if there is no district in which an action may otherwise be brought as provided in this section, any judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to such action. Here, venue is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(1), as Presco can be deemed a resident of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c)(2), concerning residency, provides that an entity with the capacity to sue and be sued in its common name under applicable law, whether or not incorporated, shall be deemed to reside, if a defendant, in any judicial district in which such defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to the civil action in question . . . . Presco is such an entity with the capacity to sue and be sued. Further, Presco is subject to this court’s personal jurisdiction. Because Pennsylvania’s long-arm statute provides for jurisdiction “based on the most minimum contact with th[e] Commonwealth allowed under the Constitution of the United States,” see 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 5322(b), in order to determine whether the Court has personal jurisdiction over Presco, I must ask “whether, under the Due Process Clause, the defendant has ‘certain minimum contacts with . . . [Pennsylvania] such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice,’” see O’Connor v. Sandy Lane Hotel Co., Ltd., 496 F.3d 312, 316-17 (3d Cir. 2007) (quoting Int’l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316 (1945) (internal quotation omitted)). Personal jurisdiction can be either general or specific. O’Connor, 496 F.3d at 317.

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Bluebook (online)
TORCUP, INC. v. PRESCO ENGINEERING, INC., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/torcup-inc-v-presco-engineering-inc-paed-2025.