United States Aluminum Corporation, a California Corporation v. Kawneer Co., Inc., a Corporation

United States Aluminum Corp. (Aluminum) brought a declaratory judgment action against Kawneer Company to declare invalid patents Kawneer held for “mullions.” The district court denied Aluminum’s motion for preliminary injunction and granted Kawneer’s motion to transfer the action to another district.

I. FACTS

A. Georgia Action

Kawneer Company filed a complaint alleging patent infringement by several defendants in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in December 1980. The complaint alleges inter alia, defendant Glass & Metal Erectors, Inc. infringed Kawneer’s patents by assembling and selling construction elements, including ES400 and ES401 mullions manufactured by U.S. Aluminum Corp. in two buildings in Atlanta.

Kawneer is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Niles, Michigan, and service centers in Los Angeles. Aluminum is a California corporation with places of business in Texas and Illinois which prevented it from being sued in Georgia. 28 U.S.C. § 1400 (b) creates venue for patent infringement actions “where the defendant resides, or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and…