Case Information
E-FILED on IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION
FUJITSU COMPUTER PRODUCTS OF No. C-01-20688 RMW AMERICA, INC., a Corporation, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR ENTRY OF JUDGMENT Plaintiff, [Re Docket No. 70]
v.
NIE INTERNATIONAL, INC., a Corporation; RACER COMPUTER CORPORATION, a
Corporation; and DOES I THROUGH X AND EACH OF THEM INCLUSIVE,
Defendants.
Plaintiff Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., moves for entry of a default judgment against defendants NIE International, Inc., and its subsidiary Racer Computer Corporation. For the reasons given below, the court will grant the motion.
Fujitsu filed suit against NIE and Racer on June 19, 2001, in California superior court, and the defendants removed the case here, to federal district court. About a year later, the defendants gave notice that they would no longer defend in the action and would allow the entry of default against them by the clerk of court. The court authorized the issuance of a writ of attachment against the property of NIE and Racer in the amount of $395,342.04 in October 2002. After over two years of inactivity, the court, on its own motion, ordered the case dismissed on September 30, 2005, but with the caveat that it could be reopened upon application by any party. Fujitsu applied to have the case reopened, and the court reopened the case on October 31, 2005.
Fujitsu now moves for the entry of a default judgment against NIE and Racer in the amount of $566,994.24: a principal amount of $392,684.04 for computer hardware which Fujitsu shipped to the defendants but for which they did not pay, and $174,310.20 in simple 10 percent annual interest accruing since May 23, 2001. [1] Fujitsu additionally seeks the recovery of costs under a not-yet-filed bill of costs. In its complaint, Fujitsu requested damages of $392,684.04 and interest of "10% PER ANNUM," as well as "a reasonable attorney's fee." Notice of Removal at 9, 11. [2]
There appears to be a small typo in the principal amount Fujitsu requests. Supporting documents attached to the complaint list the principal amount as $392,682.04 (a $2 difference from the amount Fujitsu requests). See id . at 119, 122. Fujitsu otherwise has provided adequate evidence of the amount of the its damages.
ORDER
For the foregoing reasons, the court grants Fujitsu a default judgment against NIE and Racer pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 55(b)(2) and awards damages to Fujitsu as follows:
1. Unpaid amounts $392,682.04 2. Prejudgment interest at 10% per annum $174,310.20 TOTAL $566,992.24 Fujitsu may move separately for attorneys' fees.
DATED: /s/ Ronald M. Whyte RONALD M. WHYTE United States District Judge Notice of this document has been electronically sent to:
Counsel for Plaintiff:
David J. Cook Debra D. Lew cookdavidj@aol.com cookdavidj@aol.com
Robert J. Perkiss
Counsel for Defendants:
Ron Kilgard
Jonah D. Mitchell Scott D. Baker jmitchell@chrm.com
sbaker@reedsmith.com Counsel are responsible for distributing copies of this document to co-counsel that have not registered for e-filing under the court's CM/ECF program.
Dated: /s/ JH Chambers of Judge Whyte
[1] Fujitsu calculates this by assuming it is entitled to $107.40 in interest per day, then multiplying by 1,623 days.
[2] Plaintiff's complaint is incorporated into the defendants' notice of removal, the first docket 28 entry in this action. The page numbers referred to are those generated by the court's electronic filing system. The notice of removal is 123 pages long.