Western District of Texas District Judge Alan D. Albright frequently found himself at odds with the Federal Circuit over his handling of transfer motions just a few years ago, peaking in a wave of mandamus rulings against him in 2021. That June, Judge Albright—at that point still swimming against the tide on transfers—issued an expansive pair of rulings that found venue to be proper against Hyundai and Volkswagen based on the presence of third-party car dealerships in his district. This prompted a sharp rebuke and reversal by the Federal Circuit, which in March 2022 precedentially held that he was wrong to find an agency relationship between the automakers and those dealerships. Now, with his conflict with the Federal Circuit largely in the rear-view mirror, Judge Albright has heeded the court’s prior warning, rejecting another dealership-based venue argument in transferring a case filed by two Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) plaintiffs against Zhejiang Geely (Volvo) to the District of New Jersey.

The Federal Circuit has issued another writ of mandamus directed at Western District of Texas Judge Alan D. Albright, remanding for dismissal or transfer of the underlying cases out of that district. In September 2021, Judge Albright ruled that venue tied to in-district dealerships can be proper, prompting Hyundai and Volkswagen to seek the Federal Circuit’s help (2022-0108, 2022-0109). Multiple courts and litigants across various campaigns have stalled while awaiting the appeals court’s response, and now they have it, in the form of a per curiam precedential opinion noting that while mid-litigation remedies are not typically available after the denial of a motion to dismiss for improper venue (as opposed to a ruling on a motion for a convenience transfer), “these cases involve exceptional circumstances warranting immediate review”.

Back in December 2020, StratosAudio, Inc. filed separate cases against automakers Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Zhejiang Geely (Volvo). Infringement allegations centered on the provision of vehicle infotainment systems, but the campaign quickly ran into the issue of whether venue could lie in the Western District of Texas based on the presence of and relationships with car dealerships there. In a pair of September 2021 orders, District Judge Alan D. Albright ruled that venue tied to in-district dealerships can be proper, prompting Hyundai and Volkswagen to seek writs of mandamus from the Federal Circuit on the issue (2022-0108, 2022-0109), rulings now awaited in several other litigation campaigns in Texas.

Inventor-controlled StratosAudio, Inc. has filed its first lawsuits, targeting Hyundai (6:20-cv-01125), Mazda (6:20-cv-01126), Subaru (6:20-cv-01128), Volkswagen (6:20-cv-01131), and Zhejiang Geely (Volvo) (6:20-cv-01129) over the provision of vehicle infotainment systems. At issue are features for providing live-radio streaming services (including Apple Carplay), with Volvo further accused over features for scheduling car maintenance appointments. The plaintiff asserts seven broadcast media patents in each case, with Volvo separately accused of infringing an eighth patent generally related to scheduling “interactive media and events” through a media receiver.