Waco Patent Litigation Updates

Today Intel Corporation filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Federal Circuit following Judge Albright’s November 20th ruling retransfering a patent infringement suit (VLSI Technology LLC v. Intel Corp., No. 6:19-cv-00254) from Austin back to Waco for a January trial setting. 

Venue Transfer History:

While this case was originally filed in the Waco Division in April 2019, Judge Albright granted Intel’s motion to transfer venue to Austin in October 2019 and retained the case on his docket (after denying Intel’s motion to transfer venue to Delaware).  The case proceeded in the Austin Division until November 20, 2020 when the Court issued a ruling transferring the case back to Waco for a January 11 jury trial setting.  Due to COVID, the the Austin Federal Courthouse is not currently conducting jury trials and there is no definitive date for jury trials to resume. However, Judge Albright has conducted three jury trials in the Waco Division since September.  As such, due to the conditions created by the pandemic, he issued a ruling retransferring the case back to Waco for the purpose of holding a jury trial in January.

Intel’s Arguments:

Following this ruling, Intel filed a motion to stay the retransfer pending mandamus review as well as an emergency motion to continue the trial.  In the Federal Circuit, Intel filed a petition for writ of mandamus.  Intel has asked the Federal Circuit to reverse Judge Albright’s retransfer ruling, keeping the case pending in Austin whereby the trial can be continued until the Austin courthouse reopens.

Next Steps:

Today the Federal Circuit ordered VLSI to respond to Intel’s petition within seven days. Any reply by Intel must be filed within three days thereafter.