Judge Sue L. Robinson: Motion to Transfer GRANTED

In an interesting opinion regarding a motion to transfer, Judge Robinson grants the defendants’ motion to transfer the case to the Southern District of New York where plaintiff had filed a mirror image lawsuit on the same day as the Delaware suit. Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. v. Nycomed U.S. Inc., C. A. No. 10-419-SLR, Memo. Order (D. Del. Mar. 31, 2011). The first-filed analysis was inconclusive because although the Delaware complaint had a time-stamp of 3:35 p.m., the New York complaint had only a hand-stamped date without any indication of time. Id. at 2-3. Plaintiff argued in its answering brief that the New York action was filed as a “protective measure” in case the defendants challenged personal jurisdiction in Delaware and because they did not raise that defense, the Delaware case should go forward. The Court finding “no compelling reason for the suit at bar to be the one to survive” stated that “the unusual circumstances of this case” favor transfer because the suits were filed simultaneously, the suit in New York is moving at a faster pace, and “New York is the center of the dispute between the parties.” Id. at 5.

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. v. Nycomed U.S. Inc., C. A. No. 10-419-SLR, Memo. Order (D. Del. Mar. 31, 2011).

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