The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Thursday held in In re: Apple, Inc. that US District Judge Alan Albright abused his discretion by refusing to transfer a patent infringement lawsuit.

In May 2021, BillJCo filed a patent infringement action against Apple for its use of Bluetooth technology. Apple moved to transfer the action from the US District Court for the Western District of Texas to the Northern District of California pursuant to 28 USC § 1404(a). Apple argued for the transfer because it “researched, designed, and developed” the technology at issue at its headquarters in Northern California, so evidence and witnesses would be more widely available there. Further, Apple noted that “neither BillJCo nor this litigation had any meaningful connection to Western Texas.”

The appellate court determined that Apple demonstrated a trial in California would be “clearly more convenient” based on public and private factors. The court specifically considered the burden on witnesses who would need to travel from California to Texas if the trial did not move. Therefore, the court held that “[t]he district court clearly abused its discretion” by not transferring the lawsuit.