Tesla Beats Patent Owner’s Re-Transfer Bid in Powerwall Suit

A California federal judge rejected a patent owner’s bid to send its suit accusing Tesla Inc.’s Powerwall battery technology of infringement back to Texas where it was filed.

The Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause doesn’t prevent the court from having jurisdiction to oversee Texas-based Relink US LLC’s case against Tesla, according to Judge Rita Lin’s Monday order filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Lin said the clause limits the court’s power when regarding a nonresident defendant and not a plaintiff.

“Even if the plaintiff were subject to a declaratory counterclaim—which Relink is not—the ...