By Memorandum Opinion entered by The Honorable Maryellen Noreika in Viretem Ventures, LLC v. YouTube, LLC and Google, LLC, Civil Action No. 18-917 – MN (D.Del. May 16, 2019), the Court denied the motion of Defendants YouTube, LLC (“YouTube”) and Google LLC(“Google”) to transfer venue of the patent infringement action asserted by Plaintiff Virentem Ventures LLC (“Plaintiff”) to the Northern District of California pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Plaintiff, YouTube and Google are all Delaware corporations with their principal places of business in California. Id. at *1.

After analyzing and weighing the twelve Jumara factors, the Court determined that six of the factors are neutral, three weigh to varying degrees against transfer and three weigh in favor of transfer. Id. at *3-11. Of particular note in the Court’s analysis is that it rejected Defendants’ argument that Plaintiff’s choice of forum should be afforded minimal weight and less deference “because Plaintiff chose to litigate in the forum where it is incorporated, rather than the forum where its principal place of business is located.” Id. at *3-4. The Court followed the balancing principles set forth in Shutte v. Armco Steel Corp., 431 F.2d 22, 25 (3d Cir. 1970) and gave the Plaintiff’s forum choice paramount consideration in balancing the Jumara factors. Ultimately, the Court decided that Defendants failed to demonstrate that the Jumara factors weigh strongly in favor of transfer.

A copy of the Court’s Memorandum Opinion is attached.

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