NPE’s Choice of Forum Given Little Weight in Venue Challenge

The court granted defendant's motion to transfer plaintiff's infringement action from the Eastern District of Virginia to the Northern District of Illinois and did not afford great weight to the non-practicing entity plaintiff's choice of forum. "[Plaintiff] alleges. . . that in 2003 [it] made the Eastern District of Virginia its principal place of business. . . . [Defendant] has provided the Court with a copy of complaints filed [in other actions] in which [plaintiff] alleges its principal place of business is in Chicago, Illinois. . . . [W]hen confronted with this documentation, [plaintiff] conceded to the Court that it was not actually until 'sometime after 2006' that [its] principal place of business was changed from Illinois to Virginia, although counsel could not tell the Court exactly when that transition occurred. . . . [B]ecause this district lacks significant contacts with the claim, Plaintiff's choice of forum will not be given great weight."

CIVIX-DDI, LLC v. Loopnet, Inc., 2-12-cv-00002 (VAED August 30, 2012, Order) (Davis, J.).