ArrivalStar S.A. et al v. Satellite Monitoring and Remote Tracking, Inc. et al

Filing 10

MEMORANDUM Order Signed by the Honorable Milton I. Shadur on 11/28/2011:Mailed notice(srn, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
ARRIVALSTAR S.A., et al.,

)
)
Plaintiffs,
)
)
v.
)
)
SATELLITE MONITORING AND REMOTE )
TRACKING, INC., et al.,
)
)
Defendants.
)

No.

11 C 8173

MEMORANDUM ORDER
Arrivalstar S.A. and Melvino Technologies, Ltd.
(collectively “ArrivalStar”) have brought this patent
infringement Complaint, assigned at random to this Court’s
calendar.

This is this Court’s second encounter with ArrivalStar

during the past several months--on July 27, 2011 it issued a
memorandum opinion and order (“Opinion”) in ArrivalStar v. GeoComm, Inc., Case No. 11 C 5016, that expressed serious doubts as
to the propriety of Arrival Star’s pursuit of that infringement
action in this judicial district.
Both plaintiff corporations are literally foreign
corporations, one organized under the laws of Luxembourg and
having its offices there and the other organized and having its
offices in the British Virgin Islands.

Both corporate defendants

are New Jersey corporations with their shared principal place of
business in Lakehurst, New Jersey.1

1

In Geo-Comm the target infringer’s corporate citizenship
was in Minnesota--but of course the operative principles as to

Why then is this lawsuit filed here in Illinois?

This Court

is of course totally familiar with the venue provisions that
ArrivalStar seeks to invoke--the general standard in 28 U.S.C.
§1391(a) and the patent-specific provision of 28 U.S.C. §1400(b).
What this Court wrote in the Opinion might just as well have been
written for this case.

Apparently ArrivalStar got the message as

to this Court’s view that a Northern District of Illinois filing
smacked of forum-shopping, for it dismissed the Geo-Comm action
without prejudice shortly after issuance of the Opinion.
In any event, this Court will eschew its usual initial
scheduling order, instead setting a very early status hearing for
8:45 a.m. December 1, 2011.

It awaits ArrivalStar’s counsel’s

explanation at that time.

________________________________________
Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge
Date:

November 28, 2011

venue were exactly the same as in this case.
2