Marvell Semiconductor Inc. v. Monterey Research, LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MARVELL SEMICONDUCTOR INC., Case No. 20-cv-03296-VC

Plaintiff,

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO

v. DISMISS

MONTEREY RESEARCH, LLC, Re: Dkt. No. 17 Defendant.

Monterey Research sued Marvell Semiconductor for patent infringement in the District of Delaware. Several months later, Marvell brought this duplicative action for declaratory relief against Monterey in the Northern District of California. The parties dispute whether this duplicative action should be dismissed or merely stayed while the District of Delaware considers Marvell’s motion to dismiss or transfer the case to the Northern District of California. As an initial matter, the first-to-file rule applies because of the chronology and similarity of the two lawsuits. See Pacesetter Systems, Inc. v. Medtronic, Inc., 678 F.2d 93, 95-97 (9th Cir. 1982). Marvell contends that venue is lacking in the first lawsuit, but that is not immediately apparent. Moreover, this is not a case in which a second duplicative lawsuit needs to remain on file to avoid a statute of limitations issue in the event the first lawsuit is dismissed. Compare…