Case Information
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
1/20/2023 BONHAC WORLD CORPORATION
Plaintiff, v. 21 CV 9239 (NSR) OPINION & ORDER MELLIN WORKS LLC, DBA EAZYHOLD
Defendant. NELSON S. ROMÁN, United States District Judge
Plaintiff Bonhac World Corporation (“Plaintiff”) brings this action against Defendant Mellin Works LLC, DBA Eazyhold (“Defendant”). Plaintiff asserts claims for: (1) unfair and deceptive trade practices under New York law; (2) monopolistic contracts under New York law; (3) common law unfair competition; and (4) tortious interference with contractual relations. (ECF No. 1, at 6-10.) Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint (“Compl.”) (ECF No. 1) under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (ECF No. 22.) For the following reasons, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED due to Plaintiff’s failure to state a plausible claim that the Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant.
BACKGROUND The following facts are derived from the Complaint and are accepted as true and construed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff for purposes of this motion.
Plaintiff is a New York corporation and, since 2017, has been a third-party seller on Amazon.com (“Amazon”). (Compl. ¶¶ 1, 12.) Defendant is a California limited liability company with its principal place of business at 4212 East Los Angeles Avenue, Suite 3653, Simi Valley, California 93063. ( Id. ¶ 11.)
Defendant contacted Plaintiff via e-mail in December 2020 informing Plaintiff that Plaintiff’s grip support devices on Amazon infringed on Defendant’s design and utility patents (U.S. Design Patent No. D848815 and U.S. Patent No. 9694485). [1] ( Id. ¶¶ 13, 19.) Plaintiff responded via email to Defendant on September 2, 2021, apparently to dispute Defendant’s claim. [2] ( Id. ¶ 15.) Specifically, Plaintiff alleges in its Complaint that a side-by-side comparison of its products and one of Defendant’s patents shows that there is little similarity between them. ( Id. ¶ 18.)
Plaintiff’s allegations seem to suggest that some sort of action by Defendant in response to Plaintiff’s allegedly infringing conduct caused Amazon to remove Plaintiff’s product listings; however, Plaintiff does not specify which product listings Amazon removed. ( Id. ¶¶ 4, 18, 48.) Plaintiff, for instance, simply alleges that Defendant “misuse[d] the patents to intimidate the competition and notify Amazon to make a fraudulent claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).” ( Id. ¶ 3.)
LEGAL STANDARDS
I. Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss
Under Rule 12(b)(6), the inquiry for motions to dismiss is whether the complaint
“contain[s] sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on
its face.’”
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
,
In determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief, a district court must consider the context and “draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id . at 679. A claim is facially plausible when the factual content pleaded allows a court “to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. at 678.
II. Materials Considered
In considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court “may consider the facts alleged in the
complaint, documents attached to the complaint as exhibits, and documents incorporated by
reference in the complaint
.” DiFolco v. MSNBC Cable L.L.C.
,
Additionally, the Court may take judicial notice of certain publicly available documents,
including, for example, a plaintiff's arrest reports, indictments, and criminal disposition data.
Corley v. Vance
,
DISCUSSION Defendant’s primary argument in favor of dismissal is that the Court does not have personal jurisdiction over it in this action. Although Plaintiff claims that “the Court has personal jurisdiction over both Defendants as Defendants transact business in the State of New York and flagrant violations of law occurred in New York” (Compl. ¶ 8.), Defendant argues that its contacts with New York are insufficient for the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over it. (ECF No 22, at 10.) For the reasons discussed infra , the Court concurs with Defendant that Plaintiff has not stated a plausible claim that the Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant.
I. Legal Standards for General and Specific Personal Jurisdiction
The Court determines whether personal jurisdiction exists by first applying the long-arm
statute of the forum state—here, New York—and then analyzing whether personal jurisdiction
comports with the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.
Spin Master Ltd.
, 463
F.Supp. at 362 (citing
Penguin Grp. (USA) Inc. v. Am. Buddha
,
a. General Jurisdiction: N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 301
Pursuant to N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 301 (“§ 301”), a defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction
if she is domiciled in New York, served with process in New York, or continuously and
systematically does business in New York.
See Landoil Res. Corp. v. Alexander & Alexander
Servs., Inc.
,
b. Specific Jurisdiction: N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(1) (Business Activities)
N.Y.C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(1) (“§ 302(a)(1)”) provides that personal jurisdiction exists over a
non-domiciliary defendant that “transacts any business within the state or contracts anywhere to
supply goods or services in the state.” Plaintiffs must meet two requirements to establish personal
jurisdiction under § 302(a)(1): “(1) The defendant must have transacted business within the state;
and (2) the claim asserted must arise from that business activity.”
Eades v. Kennedy PC Law
Offices
,
c. Specific Jurisdiction: N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(2) (Tortuous Conduct Within New York)
N.Y.C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(2) (“§ 302(a)(2)”) provides that personal jurisdiction may apply
where a defendant commits tortuous conduct while physically present in New York. Prior to its
amendment in 1966, the New York long-arm statute was consistently read to “cover[ ] only a
tortious act committed (by a nondomiciliary) in this State.”
Longines–Wittnauer Watch Co. v.
Barnes & Reinecke, Inc.
,
However, the Second Circuit continues to adhere to the traditional, stricter rule.
See Bank
Brussels Lambert v. Fiddler Gonzalez & Rodriguez
,
Given Second Circuit precedent, the Court must apply the majority rule requiring the
defendant to physically commit the tortious act within New York.
Thackurdeen v. Duke Univ.
, 130
F. Supp. 3d 792, 803–04 (S.D.N.Y. 2015), aff'd,
Additionally, jurisdiction under Section 302(a)(2) may extend to out-of-state individuals
who did not themselves commit a tort in New York, but “who can be deemed responsible for such
a tort based upon theories of agency or conspiracy.”
LaChapelle
v.
Torres
,
d. Specific Jurisdiction: N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(3) (Tortuous Conduct Outside New York)
N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(3) (“§ 302(a)(3)”) provides that personal jurisdiction exists over a
non-domiciliary defendant that “commits a tortious act without the state causing injury to person
or property within the state ... if [she] (i) regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other
persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or
services rendered, in the state, or (ii) expects or should reasonably expect the act to have
consequences in the state and derives substantial revenue from interstate or international
commerce.” Plaintiff must allege that “(1) the defendant committed a tortious act outside New
York; (2) the cause of action arose from that act; (3) the tortious act caused an injury to a person
or property in New York; (4) the defendant expected or should reasonably have expected the act
to have consequences in New York; and (5) the defendant derived substantial revenue from
interstate or international commerce.”
Spin Master Ltd.
,
Plaintiff's injury is deemed to take “place where its business is lost or threatened.”
Id.
(quoting
Penguin Grp.
,
II. Analysis
As an initial matter, Plaintiff has not met its “burden to establish a
prima facia
case of
personal jurisdiction against [Defendant] as to each claim asserted” on the pleadings alone.
Asserted Berdeaux v. OneCoin Ltd.
, 561 F.Supp.3d 379, 397 (S.D.N.Y. 2021) (describing,
“Plaintiffs’ burden to establish a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction against each Defendant
as to each claim asserted”);
see also HSM Holdings, LLC v. Mantu I.M. Mobile Ltd.
, No. 20-CV-
967,
a. General Jurisdiction Pursuant to N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 301 and Specific Jurisdiction Pursuant to N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(1)
First, the Court does not have general personal jurisdiction over Defendant. Plaintiff has not alleged that Defendant is domiciled in New York, was served with process in New York, or continuously and systematically does business in New York. See Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, N.A. v. ComputerTraining.Com, Inc. , No. 04-CV-0982, 2004 WL 1555110, at *2-3 (S.D.N.Y. 2004). Plaintiff’s claim that Defendant “transact[s] business in New York” is entirely conclusory and its allegation that a third party—Lowes—sells Defendant’s product in New York does not indicate that Defendant itself sells products in New York. (ECF No. 23, at 5.) Indeed, Plaintiff’s Complaint fails to allege that Defendant itself has made a single sale in New York, entered a contract in New York, or engaged in any other commercial behavior in New York. Therefore, the Court must determine whether specific personal jurisdiction exists as to Defendant.
Specific personal jurisdiction may apply if the criteria of § 302(a)(1), § 302(a)(2), or §
302(a)(3) are met. For § 302(a)(1) to apply, Plaintiff must allege more than that a defendant offers
a product outside New York for sale in New York, if no sale has taken place in New York (or to a
New York resident), even if the defendant operates a commercial website capable of reaching
customers in New York.
Spin Master Ltd.
,
b. Specific Jurisdiction Pursuant to N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(2) § 302(a)(2) permits courts to exercise “personal jurisdiction over any non-domiciliary ... who in person or through an agent ... commits a tortious act within the state....” Plaintiff does not allege that Defendant committed the alleged tortuous conduct (i.e., purportedly using improper means to remove Plaintiff’s unspecified product listings from Amazon) while physically present in New York or that this conduct occurred in New York. Indeed, from what the Court can gather from Plaintiff’s vague allegations, the alleged conduct underlying Plaintiff’s claims for unfair competition and tortious interference occurred online between Defendant and Amazon. Plaintiff only alleges, for instance, that Defendant “misuse[d] [its] patents to intimidate the competition and notify Amazon to make a fraudulent claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).” (Compl. ¶ 3.)
c. Specific Jurisdiction Pursuant to N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(3)
For the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction under § 302(a)(3) as to Defendant (who is
non-domiciliary), Plaintiff must satisfy the following five criteria: (1) the defendant committed a
tortious act outside New York; (2) the cause of action arose from that act; (3) the tortious act
caused an injury to a person or property in New York; (4) the defendant expected or should
reasonably have expected the act to have consequences in New York; and (5) the defendant derived
substantial revenue from interstate or international commerce.”
Spin Master Ltd.
, 463 F.Supp.3d
at 365 (quoting
Penguin Grp.
,
As discussed infra , Plaintiff has not plausibly alleged that Defendant made sales to New York or otherwise targeted New York such that Defendant expected, or should reasonably have expected, the alleged tortuous act (i.e., purportedly using improper means to remove Plaintiff’s unspecified product listings from Amazon) to have consequences in New York. Thus, the Court cannot exercise personal jurisdiction over any Defendant under § 302(a)(3).
CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint is GRANTED. All claims against Defendant are dismissed. The Clerk of the Court is respectfully directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 22, and to terminate this action.
SO ORDERED: Dated: January 20, 2023
White Plains, New York
NELSON S. ROMÁN United States District Judge
Notes
[1] Defendant’s email to Plaintiff did not include the identification numbers of the design and utility patents.
[2] Plaintiff’s Complaint reads, “Plaintiff sent an email to EZ’s CEO on September 2, 2021, demonstrating the ambiguities and commercial causes of action”; this statement, like many in the Complaint, is very unclear vague, so the Court is unable to determine the specific contents of Plaintiff’s response to Defendant. (Compl . ¶ 3.)
