Internet Site Alone Does Not Create Jurisdiction
Gencor Pacific, Inc. v. Nature's Thyme, LLC, No. 07 C 167, 2007 WL 1225362 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 24, 2007) (Kocoras, J.).
Judge Kocoras granted defendants' Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2)&(3) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and venue and dismissed the case. Plaintiff brought this Lanham Act false advertising and copyright infringement case alleging that defendants used portions of plaintiff's copyrighted studies regarding the efficacy of a weight-loss and appetite suppressant containing Caralluma Fimbriata extract. Defendants, a business and two individuals employed by the business, were residents of New Jersey and had a single sale to an Illinois customer, valued at $300. Defendants only other contacts with Illinois were an interactive website accessible in Illinois and the fact that one or two of defendants' general solicitations may have been sent to Illinois. Defendants did not own property in Illinois and there was no proof that any defendants sent any of the allegedly infringing information to Illinois. The Court held these contacts were not sufficient to create either general or specific jurisdiction. The Court also held that venue was not proper in the Northern District of Illinois because defendants were not residents of Illinois and the acts at issue in the suit did not occur in the Northern District.
