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Judge Rejects Microsoft's Bid to Relocate Antitrust Suit

Posted on: Friday, 12 March 2004, 06:00 CST

Mar. 12--A federal judge yesterday denied Microsoft's bid to transfer the antitrust lawsuit RealNetworks filed against the company from San Jose, Calif., to Seattle, saying there is no basis for such a move.

Plaintiffs generally get a lot of leeway in deciding where to file a lawsuit, wrote U.S. District Judge James Ware in his decision. In requesting to move the case, Microsoft must show that doing so is more convenient for everyone involved and in the interest of justice, he wrote.

"A transfer would not serve these interests any more than having the case proceed here" in California, Ware wrote.

The decision is a small setback for Microsoft in the case, which is still in its early stages and is years away from trial.

RealNetworks filed the $1 billion suit against Microsoft in December, claiming the software giant has unfairly used its monopoly power in the personal computer business to dominate the digital media market.

Both companies are based in the Puget Sound area, and Microsoft accused RealNetworks in court of "forum shopping" to find the most sympathetic jurors. Many of Microsoft's fiercest competitors are in Silicon Valley, the company said in its request to transfer the case, and RealNetworks likely perceives the jury pool there to be the most hostile to Microsoft of any in the country.

RealNetworks said it chose Silicon Valley because California is home to companies who have seen firsthand the impact of Microsoft's practices. The company also said it may call several witnesses who live in California, including executives from Apple Computer, Sony Pictures Digital, MovieLink and Sun Microsystems.

Ware wrote that there is no basis to determine the hostility of a jury pool at this point. Additionally, potential jurors are questioned before trial to ensure fairness, he wrote.

A RealNetworks spokesman said the company is looking forward to presenting the case in San Jose, where a jury can benefit by hearing from live witnesses.

Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said the company was disappointed, but would vigorously defend the case regardless of venue.

"We continue to believe that this case should be tried in the region where both companies are located," she said. "This is a dispute between two Washington companies, and Washington law and jurors should decide it."

Norm Beamer, a Bay Area attorney involved in a patent case against Microsoft, said he didn't think keeping the case in San Jose would give either side an advantage. San Jose juries are more likely to include technically sophisticated people who know about computers, which could be good or bad for both parties, he said.

"Obviously Microsoft is unpopular with a certain segment of computer users, so that could conceivably be to their detriment," he said. "On the other hand, the same people who would have somewhat of an antipathy for Microsoft would be sophisticated enough to know that they're in a jury, and they're not supposed to be applying that prejudice."

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(c) 2004, The Seattle Times. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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