Valtrus Innovations Ltd v. Google LLC, 3:25-cv-07063

Plaintiffs Valtrus Innovations Ltd. and Key Patent Innovations Limited, both Irish companies with no US employees or offices, allege that Google LLC (headquartered in Northern District of California) infringed three patents related to Google Search and Google Cloud.
The asserted patents originated from a Hewlett-Packard portfolio. Patent prosecution law firms and relevant Google employees are mostly located in Northern California.
Plaintiffs initially filed the case in the Northern District of Texas (NDTX), but Google moved to transfer venue to the Northern District of California (NDCA) under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), arguing NDCA is more convenient.
Plaintiffs opposed transfer, arguing NDTX is proper venue and, alternatively, that the Western District of Texas (WDTX) would be a better transferee court.
The court previously stayed the case during IPR proceedings; after the stay was lifted, Google renewed its motion to transfer, also requesting to seal select documents.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Motion to Transfer to NDCA	Venue is proper in Texas due to Google's Dallas-area data center and alleged relevant Texas-based witnesses.	NDCA is more convenient: key witnesses, evidence custodians, and relevant events are in NDCA.	Granted transfer to NDCA.
Motion to Seal Certain Briefs/Appended Exhibits	Consented to limited sealing due to confidential third-party (AMD, Google) material.	Sought to limit sealing to non-public, non-dispositive information, with public redacted versions provided.	Granted both parties' motions to seal.
Weighing Private & Public Interest Transfer Factors	Evidence, witnesses, and relevant acts are sufficiently connected to Texas; Google's delay in requesting transfer should weigh against it.	Bulk of witnesses/evidence is in NDCA; delay was not excessive due to case stay; transfer will not cause undue delay or prejudice.	Both private and public factors weighed in favor of NDCA; transfer granted.
Plaintiffs' Contingent Motion to Transfer to WDTX	If not NDTX, Austin (WDTX) is preferable due to proximity to AMD and some potential witnesses.	NDCA remains the most convenient venue for parties; fewer NDCA witnesses/evidence located in Texas.	Denied transfer to WDTX; NDCA is more convenient.

In re Volkswagen AG, 371 F.3d 201 (5th Cir. 2004) (establishing standard for § 1404(a) venue transfer; weighs private and public interest factors)
In re Apple Inc., 979 F.3d 1332 (Fed. Cir. 2020) (location of relevant witnesses and evidence key in patent transfer analysis)
Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235 (U.S. 1981) (forum non conveniens factors for convenience and justice in venue decisions)