Izumi Ohkubo v. Antara Biosciences, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Izumi Ohkubo appeals the district court’s dismissal of this action upon Defendants’ Rule 12(b)(3) motion to dismiss for improper venue. The district court held that a forum selection clause in the parties’ investment agreement designated the Tokyo District Court the exclusive forum for lawsuits related to the agreement, making venue in the Northern District of California improper. Because “the interpretation of contractual language in [this] forum selection clause does not turn on the credibility of extrinsic evidence but on an application of the principles of contract interpretation, we review the district court’s interpretation de novo.” Doe 1 v. AOL LLC, 552 F.3d 1077, 1081 (9th Cir.2009). We affirm the district court’s judgment and do not reach Defendants’ alternative argument that the case should be dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds.

The district court analyzed an English translation of the parties’ investment agreement that Ohkubo attached to his complaint. “Factual assertions in pleadings and pretrial orders, unless amended, are considered judicial admissions conclusively binding on the party who made them.” Am. Title Ins. Co. v. Lacelaw Corp., 861 F.2d…