Delaware Court Congestion Favors Transfer of Venue

The court granted defendant's motion to transfer venue from the District of Delaware to the Northern District of California and sua sponte raised the issue of court congestion. "While neither party addresses this factor, we do because this District is now reduced to two active district court judges with judges from other busy districts sitting as visiting judges to help address the busy docket until new district court judges are sworn. The Northern District of California has a full bench of talented district court judges experienced in patent litigation. . . . [T]his District is ranked 17th in the United States for weighted filings per judge (based on four judges as of March 31, 2017) while the Northern District of California is ranked 23rd based on fourteen judges as of March 31, 2017. This District is now reduced to two active judges, only increasing the number of cases on each judge's docket here. . . . Given the limited resources, we find it difficult to justly allocate judicial resources in this District to resolve a dispute between California and North Dakota citizens where there is no connection here other than [defendant's] single retail location."

Prowire LLC v. Apple Inc., 1-17-cv-00223 (DED September 15, 2017, Order) (Kearney, USDJ)