Employing Part-Time Field Technicians and Registering to Do Business Create Regular and Established Place of Business​

The court denied defendant's motion to transfer for improper venue because defendant had a regular and established business in the forum through its part-time field technicians who regularly provided service to purchasers of the accused product. "A fixed physical presence in a district is not dispositive, and the guiding question is whether the corporate defendant does it business through a permanent and continuous presence in the district. . . . [T]he defendant is registered to do business in the State of North Carolina . . . . Defendant claims that it has six part-time field technicians, who are paid hourly. According to defendant, these technicians do not solicit orders, enter into contracts, or make sales, but instead service existing accounts. . . . [T]he contacts in the instant case involve technicians who actively work on-site throughout the District. . . . [T]he court here finds that venue is appropriate in this district as defendant employs six field technicians who regularly service customers in this district who have purchased defendant’s allegedly infringing product."

InVue Security Products Inc. v. Mobile Tech, Inc. d/b/a Mobile Technologies Inc. and MTI, 3-15-cv-00610 (NCWD August 21, 2017, Order) (Cogburn, Jr., USDJ)