Valtech, LLC v. 18th Ave. Toys, Ltd., No 14 C 134, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 12, 2015) (Kocoras, J.).

Judge Kocoras denied defendant’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction or to transfer to the E.D. New York — this Lanham Act trade dress case involving packaging

Telemedicine Sol’ns LLC v. WoundRight Techs, LLC, No. 13 C 3431, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Mar. 14, 2014) (Dow, J.).

Judge Dow granted defendant WoundRight Technologies’ (“WoundRight”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this Lanham Act case involving plaintiff Telemedicine Solutions’ (“Telemedicine”)  & WOUND ROUNDS federal

Flava Works, Inc. v. Gunter d/b/a myVidster.com, No. 10 C 6517, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Dec. 13, 2012) (Shadur, Sen. J.).

Judge Shadur granted defendant LeaseWeb USA (“LeaseWeb”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) & (6) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.  Plaintiff Flava Works pointed largely

Sage Prods, Inc. v. Primo, Inc., No. 12 C 3620, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Mar. 5, 2013) (Coleman, J.).

Judge Coleman granted defendant Primo’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this trade dress case involving a boot designed to cushion and prevent heel ulcers.  Primo did

Snap-On Inc. v. Robert Bosch, LLC, No. 09 C 6914, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. July 11, 2012) (Kocoras, J.).

Judge Kocoras denied defendants’ Beissbarth GmbH (“Beissbarth”) and Robert Bosch, GmbH’s (“Bosch Germany”) (collectively “German Defendants”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.  As an initial matter, the court denied plaintiff Snap-On’s argument that

Labtest Int’l., Inc., d/b/a Intertek Consumer Goods N. Am. v. Centre Testing Int’l. Corp., No. 10C2897, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 1, 2011) (Dow, J.).
Judge Dow granted defendant CTI’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this copyright infringement action. The Court did not have jurisdiction over CTI:
CTI was a Chinese entity with no U.S. offices.
CTI’s only possible contact with Illinois regarding the copyrighted subject matter was via its passive website.
Plaintiff Intertek offered no proof that anyone from Illinois downloaded the allegedly infringing chart.
CTI’s only connection was work in China for an entity with a parent entity in Illinois.
The Court did not award Intertek its fees and costs for defending the case or the case filed by Intertek in Connecticut. Intertek had credible arguments for each, and it was not forum shopping even if the arguments were eventually proven wrong.

Continue Reading Passive Website Written in Chinese Does Not Create Illinois Personal Jurisdiction

Free Green Can, LLC v. Green Recycling Enters., LLC, No. 10 C 5764, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 28, 2011 (Coleman, J.).
Judge Coleman granted the individual defendants’ and Aslan Financial Group’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) motion to dismiss plaintiff Free Green Can’s trademark infringement and related state law claims. As an initial matter, the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction as to all state law claims because while Free Green Can pled diversity of citizenship, it did not plead that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000. Because Aslan Financial Group was only accused of state law claims, it was dismissed.
The federal trademark claims against the individual defendants were dismissed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) because the individual defendants were accused of infringement based upon corporate acts of defendant Green Recycling Enterprises, of which each was an officer. But in order to state a claim for infringement, or any tort, by corporate officers or employees Free Green Can was required to allege each individual defendant had actively participated in the tortious acts. Because there were no such allegations, the infringement claims were dismissed.

Continue Reading Infringement Claims Against Corporate Officers Require Active Participation

Salud Natural Entrepreneur, Inc. v. Nutricento Internacional, Inc., No. 09 C 4417, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 27, 2011) (Zagel, J.).
Judge Zagel denied defendant Azteca Products’ (“Azteca”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this Lanham Act case. Azteca’s officer, a non-lawyer, purported to file an answer on Azteca’s behalf. Azteca then hired counsel who participated in Rule 26 scheduling conferences. Azteca’s officer then filed a Rule 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss without counsel, which the Court struck because it was not filed by counsel, and a corporate entity cannot act pro se. The Court then entered a default judgment and an injunction against Azteca. Azteca hired counsel and asked through counsel that the default be vacated. The Court vacated the judgment and agreed to consider whether Azteca’s personal jurisdiction arguments had been waived. Noting the “bizarre posture of the case, the Court held that Azteca had not preserved its jurisdiction arguments.
The answer did not waive Azteca’s arguments because as a pro se filing it was treated as never having been filed. But counsel did participate in Rule 26(f) conferences, although he filed no notice of appearance, and offered no suggestion that Azteca would challenge jurisdiction during that time. Furthermore, jurisdiction was challenged for the first time more than thirty days after the other defendants settled based upon discussions that Azteca did not participate in. Regardless of the legal impact of Azteca’s filings, by the time Azteca challenge jurisdiction, plaintiff had developed a “reasonable expectation” that Azteca would defend itself in Illinois.

Continue Reading Defendant Waived Personal Jurisdiction by Its Actions, If Not Its Filings

Merrill Primack v. Polto, Inc., No. 08 C 4539, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jul. 8, 2010) (Dow, J.).
Judge Dow granted defendants’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss this Lanham Act case over plaintiff’s “Credit Lifeline” mark for lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiff did not claim general jurisdiction, relying only upon specific jurisdiction. Defendants’ only Illinois contacts were the sale of 212 books unrelated to the Credit Lifeline mark into Illinois. And defendants’ offer for sale of its Credit Lifeline book via an interactive website could not alone create specific jurisdiction. Similarly, injury to intellectual property alone did not create jurisdiction based upon the effects test. Harm to the plaintiff in the jurisdiction did not satisfy the test by itself. Defendant’s actions must have been intentional, aimed at the forum state and defendant had to know that plaintiff’s harm was likely to be suffered. But there was no indication that defendant was even aware of plaintiffs’ Credit Lifeline mark, or of plaintiff, from defendant’s first use of the mark in 2001 until, at the earliest, when plaintiff registered its mark in 2008.
Finally, the Court held that there was no persuasive reason that exercising personal jurisdiction would have comported with “fair play and substantial justice.”

Continue Reading Unrelated Sales Do Not Create Specific Jurisdiction

Chicago Bd. Options Exchange Inc. v. Realtime Data, LLC d/b/a IXO, No. 09 C 4486, Slip. Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 8, 2009) (Lindberg, Sen. J.).
Judge Lindberg granted declaratory judgment for defendant Realtime’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The parties agreed that the Court lacked general jurisdiction and focused their arguments on specific jurisdiction. Because plaintiff Chicago Board Options Exchange (“CBOE”) brought declaratory judgment claims, the analysis focused upon whether Realtime’s patent enforcement activities were directed at the jurisdiction. CBOE argued that specific jurisdiction was created by Realtime’s Texas patent infringement suit against, among others, Chicago-based defendants, including eventually CBOE. But the Court held that Realtime’s Texas action alone did not create specific jurisdiction, and the Court did not consider the Texas suit against CBOE because CBOE was not added to the Texas action until after the instant suit was filed.

Continue Reading Jurisdiction Over Declaratory Patent Claims Based Upon Location of Enforcement