Personal Jurisdiction

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Snap-On Inc. v. Robert Bosch, LLC, No. 09 C 06914, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Sept. 26, 2013) (Kocoras, J.).

Judge Kocoras denied defendant Beissbarth’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this patent infringement case involving patents relating to an optical wheel alignment system.  Plaintiff asserted jurisdiction …

Flava Works, Inc. v. Rowader, No. 12 C 7181, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Nov. 16, 2012) (Lefkow, J.).

Judge Lefkow denied defendant’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss plaintiff Flava Works copyright suit for lack of jurisdiction and improper venue.  Defendant – a California citizen who did not direct any business at …

Pumponator Inc. v. Watersports, LLC, No. 11 C 3956, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. April 5, 2012) (Aspen, Sen. J.).

Judge Aspen denied the Ketz defendant’s (“Ketz”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this Lanham Act case involving water-balloon filling devices.  The Court did not address whether …

Judge Bucklo denied defendant Life+Gear’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) and (3) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue in this patent dispute. While Life+Gear did not have Illinois offices, it did have an interactive website and at least one Illinois sale. Life+Gear also sold product to two distributors that sold that product in Illinois and Life+Gear was reasonably aware of those channels of sale.
Venue was proper because venue in a patent case exists wherever there is personal jurisdiction.
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Continue Reading Limited Contracts and Distributor Sales in Illinois Create Jurisdiction

Judge Manning dismissed plaintiff Millenium TGA’s case against a Doe defendant identified by its computer IP address (“Doe”) for lack of personal jurisdiction. Doe was not an Illinois resident. And Millenium TGA offered no proof that Doe’s actions in allegedly using Bit Torrent to download copyrighted video files were targeted at Illinois. Being part of a Bit Torrent “swarm” that downloaded a video did not rise to the level of targeting Illinois.
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Continue Reading Swarming Does Not Create Jurisdiction

Millennium TGA, Inc. v. Doe, No. 10 C 5603, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 24, 2011) (Manning, J.).
Judge Manning held in abeyance Doe defendant’s motion to quash a subpoena issued to its alleged internet service provider and Doe’s motion to dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiff Millennium TGA reasoned that the subpoenaed information would allow it to show that Doe’s actions were directed at Illinois and within the Courts’ jurisdiction.
The Court was “troubled” by Millennium TGA’s claims that it needed jurisdictional discovery, as opposed to discovery only seeking Doe’s identity. Millennium TGA already filed a complaint alleging jurisdiction upon information and belief. The Court, therefore, ordered Millennium TGA to file a brief detailing how the information it sought was necessary. And the Court held the motions in abeyance pending that brief. The Court also warned Millennium TGA that it would initiate sanctions proceedings if Millennium TGA had not met its Fed. R. Civ. P 11 obligations.
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Continue Reading Potential Sanctions for Early Discovery Inconsistent With Pleadings

Fasteners for Retail, Inc. v. Andersen, No. 11 C 2164 Slip. Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 30, 2011) (Kennelly, J.).
Judge Kennelly denied defendant Andersen’s motion to dismiss this patent and trade secret case. The Court had personal jurisdiction over Andersen because he worked for defendant K International, an Illinois entity, and Andersen had solicited his former customers in Illinois.
Venue was also proper in the Northern District. A substantial part of the facts at issue occurred in Illinois. The parties’ prior agreement did not release plaintiff’s trade secret claims because they were not contemplated when plaintiff signed the agreement.
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Continue Reading Soliciting Illinois Customers Creates Jurisdiction

Modern Trade Comms., Inc. v. PSMJ Resources, Inc., No. 10 C 5380, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 19, 2011) (Pallmeyer, J.).
Judge Pallmeyer granted defendants PSMJ Resources’ (“PSMJ”) and Oser Communications’ (“Oser”) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this Lanham Act case involving plaintiff Modern Trade Communications’ (“MTC”) rights in its Metal Construction News mark for a metal industry trade publication. At the Metalcon tradeshow in 2010, Oser distributed a daily publication entitled Metal Daily News at PSMJ’s direction. MTC alleged that the Metal Daily News title infringed its Metal Construction News mark, which MTC used to publish an official show guide at the same conference.
PSMJ was a Massachusetts company without offices or personnel in Illinois. It approximated that 3% of its revenue at the 2009 Metalcon show in Florida was from Illinois residents. PSMJ’s website was not interactive. PSMJ did produce six training seminars unrelated to Metalcon in Illinois. PSMJ’s small revenues from Illinois residents did not create general jurisdiction. While related to Metalcon, PSMJ’s contract with a third party in Illinois did not create specific jurisdiction. And PSMJ’s production of the 2002 Metalcon in Illinois did not create specific jurisdiction because the accused Metal Daily News was only distributed at the 2010 Metalcon in Las Vegas. The Court, therefore, had neither general nor specific jurisdiction over PSMJ.
Oser was an Arizona company without offices or personnel in Illinois, although Oser did distribute publications at two to three trade shows per year in Chicago. Oser’s website was passive, except that the 2010 Metal Daily News was available on the site for downloading. Attendance at two to three trade shows each year in Chicago did not create the systematic contacts necessary for general jurisdiction. Oser’s website was not sufficient to create specific jurisdiction. MTC made no allegation that the website was targeted at Illinois, and the availability of the publication as a free download was not sufficient either. And MTC did not allege how Oser’s alleged infringement in Las Vegas was tied to Oser’s Illinois activities. Furthermore, the sale of an advertisement in the Metal Daily News to an Illinois resident, even combined with the website allegations, was not sufficient to create specific jurisdiction.
The Court also denied MTC’s motion to amend because it did not allege any new facts that might create personal jurisdiction.
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Continue Reading No Personal Jurisdiction Based Upon a Passive Website and a Single Advertisement

Culligan Int’l Co. v. Water Sys. of Birmingham, Inc., No. 10 C 8199, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Apr. 27, 2011) (Bucklo, J.).

The Court granted defendants’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in this trademark dispute regarding plaintiff’s CULLIGAN marks. Defendants were Alabama entities without offices, employees…