IN RE GENENTECH, INC. and BIOGEN IDEC INC., Petitioners., 566 F.3d 1338

Summary

The district court clearly abused its discretion in denying the transfer and produced a patently erroneous result. A substantial number of witnesses with material and relevant information resided in either the transferee venue or California and would be unnecessarily inconvenienced in having to travel to Texas to testify. Transfer would reduce significantly any transportation of documents relating to the accused products. Because a substantial number of witnesses resided within the venue, the Northern District of California will have the authority to compel these witnesses to appear at trial under Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(2)(c). There were no witnesses or parties within Texas and no relevant documents there. Although a number of witnesses would be traveling from Europe, Iowa, and the East Coast, those witnesses would have to travel a significant distance in any event and would be only slightly more inconvenienced by having to travel to California. Thus, the convenience to the witnesses ...