Opinion
No. 05 Civ. 5862 (RO).
February 3, 2006
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Plaintiff Tsubo, LLC is the owner of the registered trademark TSUBO for shoes. This action arises out of Defendant Tsubi Pty Limited's use of the registered trademark TSUBI, allegedly a confusingly similar trademark, for clothing.
Defendant Tsubi, an Australian-based corporation, moves for an Order transferring venue to the Central District of California, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). The motion is denied.
Defendant opened a retail store in Manhattan last year under the mark TSUBI, in which it sells products bearing the TSUBI mark and hosts promotional events for its products. This is its only retail store in the United States. Its office in West Hollywood is a small showroom with only three employees. The issues raised are such that I fail to see any great need for defendant's lengthy list of California-based witnesses, when what is mainly needed are experts and studies of arguable customer confusion. There is no allegation of bad faith.
Given the foregoing, the motion to transfer venue from this district is denied, the plaintiff's choice of forum being generally accorded great weight and deference unless the balance tips strongly in favor of the defendant, which, here, it does not. Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 508 (1947).