Duplan Corp. v. Deering Milliken, Inc. (324 F. Supp. 102, 1970)

EDELSTEIN, District Judge.

OPINION

This is a motion by defendants Deering Milliken, Inc. (DMI) and Deering Milliken Research Corporation (DMRC) to transfer this case to the District of South Carolina, Spartanburg Division, pursuant to 28 U.S.C § 1404(a).

This action is one of several now pending between DMRC and its licensees under certain patent licenses. (The patents covered by the licenses relate to various processes for giving fibers a false twist, and are referred to as “FT patents,” and “FT licenses.”) A third defendant, Moulinage et Retorderie de Chavanoz (“Chavanoz”) is named in the complaint. Chavanoz is a French Company and the owner of the FT patents. It has granted to DMRC an exclusive license to use and sublicense its patents in the United States. Duplan asserts that the FT licenses are unenforceable. In its complaint it seeks in part declaratory judgment that the FT patents are invalid or are not infringed by plaintiff, and an injunction and treble damages based on alleged misuse of the FT patents. Some other licensees make similar claims in actions instituted in North Carolina. All of these licensees, including Duplan, are sued federally by DMRC in South Carolina.

In the case at bar the action should be transferred to the District of South Carolina. South Carolina is the district with the most substantial contacts with the issues in dispute and where related actions involving substantially identical issues and subject matter are pending. The presence of related actions and issues in South Carolina is a persuasive reason for the decision to transfer. As noted there are several litigations between DMRC and FT licensees pending in the District of South Carolina. The District of South Carolina is where all such disputes about the validity and enforceability of the FT license agreements can be resolved. Transfer to South Carolina could expedite a final determination of the right of DMRC to enforce the FT licenses. It is only in the District of South Carolina that all the FT licensees