PalTalk Holdings, Inc. v. Valve Corporation

Filing 60

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS re 47 Report and Recommendations. 1. Defendant's motion for a change of venue, Filing No. 19 , is granted; 2. The report and recommendation, Filing No. 47 , is adopted in its entirety; and 3. The Clerk of Court is ordered to transfer this case to the Western District of Washington. Signed by Judge Joseph F. Bataillon on 2/1/2018. (fms)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
PALTALK HOLDINGS, INC.,
Plaintiff,
1:16CV1239
v.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
VALVE CORPORATION,
Defendant.

This matter is before the court on defendant’s motion to transfer, Filing No. 19,
and the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge, Filing No. 47. Defendant
filed a motion to transfer pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(3) and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1400(b)
and 1406.

The magistrate judge recommended to this court that the case be

transferred to the Western District of Washington. No objections have been filed. This
is a patent infringement case. Both parties conceded that Delaware was not the correct
venue for this case. The plaintiff asked that the case be transferred to Virginia and the
defendant requested a transfer to the Western District of Washington.

Valve is a

Washington corporation that is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.

PalTalk is

headquartered in Jericho, New York.
The Supreme Court has construed the statutory grant of authority conferred on
magistrate judges under 28 U.S.C. § 636 to mean that nondispositive pretrial matters
are governed by § 636(b)(1)(A) and dispositive matters are covered by § 636(b)(1)(B).
Gomez v. United States, 490 U.S. 858, 873-74 (1989); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a)
and (b)(3).

The magistrate judge determined that the parties agreed that the Western District
of Washington was proper, but they initially disagreed whether the Eastern District of
Virginia is a regular established location so as to establish venue. The magistrate judge
concluded that Valve’s connections to Washington were significant and the ties to
Virginia were tenuous in comparison.

The magistrate judge further found that the

events at issue are connected to the Western District of Washington, and DOTA 2 and
its source code, at issue in this lawsuit, were created in Washington by Valve
employees. Further, all of the developers, employees, officers and directors involved in
the creation of DOTA 2 all work in Washington. The defendant has now agreed to the
transfer to the Western District of Washington. Filing No. 49.
The court finds the magistrate judge is correct as a matter of law and fact and
adopts her findings and recommendation in its entirety.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1. Defendant’s motion for a change of venue, Filing No.19, is granted;
2. The report and recommendation, Filing No. 47, is adopted in its entirety; and
3. The Clerk of Court is ordered to transfer this case to the Western District of
Washington.
Dated this 1st day of February, 2018.

BY THE COURT:

s/ Joseph F. Bataillon
Senior United States District Judge