On February 1, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) granted a petition for writ of mandamus directing the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (W.D. Tex.) to vacate its order denying transfer and to transfer the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (N.D. Cal.).  In re Google LLC, No. 2023-101, —F.4th— (Fed. Cir. Feb. 1, 2023).  The Federal Circuit found that the W.D. Tex. clearly abused its discretion in, inter alia, weighing the court congestion factor against transfer where plaintiff did not compete in the market and is not threatened in the market in a way that might otherwise add urgency to case resolution.
 

On November 8, 2022, in a precedential order, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) granted Apple Inc.’s petition for a writ of mandamus vacating the scheduling order of the District Court for the Western District of Texas and directing that court to stay all proceedings on the merits and resolve Apple’s pending motion to transfer.  While the CAFC did not decide the extent to which merits discovery may proceed while issues of venue and venue discovery are still pending, it nevertheless ruled that transfer decisions must “proceed expeditiously” as “the first order of business.”  In re Apple Inc., No. 2022-162 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 8, 2022).