Microsoft Can Fight Data-Privacy Patent Suit in Its Home State

Microsoft Corp. can transfer a data privacy company’s patent-infringement lawsuit against it from the Western District of Texas to closer to home in the Western District of Washington, a Federal Circuit panel ruled Wednesday.

The decision allows the software giant to defend against claims that it violated three of Virtru Corp.'s patents near its headquarters outside of Seattle, instead of in Waco, Texas, a venue that’s favored by patent owners.

Judge Alan D. Albright originally denied Microsoft’s the requested transfer in Waco federal court in January, “concluding that access to sources of proof and local interest slightly favored transfer; administrative ...