Nintendo Case Bounced|to Washington State

(CN) - Nintendo can transfer a patent infringement lawsuit against it to Washington state, where documents, executives and witnesses are, a federal judge ruled.

Secure Axcess LLC sued Nintendo of America and a number of retailers in January 2013, claiming the Nintendo DS handheld video game console violated a Secure Axcess' patent.

A Federal Court in the Eastern District of Texas denied Nintendo's motion to sever and stay the claims and transfer the case to the Western District of Washington.

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that decision on June 25, ordering the district court to grant the motion.

The appeals court ruled that transfer is appropriate because Nintendo's main campus is in Redmond, Wash., where executives and documents are, and key witnesses live there.

It ruled in favor of severance because "Secure Axcess has no claim against the retailers unless the infringement claims against Nintendo are resolved in favor of Secure Axcess."

"Since Nintendo's liability is predicate to recover from any of the defendants, the case against Nintendo must proceed first, in any forum," Judge Pauline Newman wrote for the three-member panel. "The benefits of trying the case against Nintendo in the Western District of Washington are indisputable. We conclude that the district court should have exercised its discretion to grant the petition."

Secure Axcess "is a company that acquires, licenses, and enforces patents," according to the ruling. It also sued Nintendo in April , claiming that the Wii console violates a computer display patent.

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