SAN FRANCISCO (BRAIN) — A U.S. District Court judge has refused to dismiss or relocate a patent infringement lawsuit that Fox Factory has filed against SRAM in California.
Fox, which is headquartered in California, filed suit in U.S. Court for the Northern District of California in January 2016, complaining that SRAM was infringing on suspension and thru axle patents.
SRAM, headquartered in Chicago, had made a motion on May 31 this year to dismiss or transfer the case, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier that month. In the case, TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Grp., the Supreme Court clarified conditions under which a party could challenge a trial's venue in a patent lawsuit.
However, Judge William Orrick, in an order released Tuesday, said SRAM had waived its opportunity to object to the venue last year, when the suit was first filed. Orrick said the Supreme Court ruling, while it provided a new interpretation of a law, was not an actual new law so it did not give SRAM the opportunity to object to the venue after proceedings had begun.
SRAM is also suing Fox in Illinois, alleging patent and trademark infringement regarding chainrings sold by Fox's Race Face brand. Fox has said that the litigation has cost the company $2.75 million at last count.
