216 A.2d 833 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1965
The defendant is a Michigan corporation which does not have an office in this state nor has it done business within the state. It was served with the complaint by resort to the provisions of § 33-411 (b), (c) and (d) of the General Statutes by having the secretary of state address a copy of the complaint to the corporate office of the defendant as shown in the official registry of the state of its incorporation. The defendant appears specially herein to file a plea in abatement and to the jurisdiction attacking the validity of § 33-411 to give in personam jurisdiction over it in this court. the plaintiff has demurred to the defendant's plea in abatement, thereby raising the legal issue as to the legal validity and constitutionality of § 33-411 (c). The complaint alleges that the plaintiff had a franchise agreement with the defendant pursuant to which the defendant provided plans and materials to the plaintiff for the construction of certain buildings in Connecticut. It alleges that the defendant was negligent in providing inadequate specifications and failed to provide adequate and *203 suitable materials. It further alleges a breach of the franchise contract as a result thereof.
The plaintiff has submitted a comprehensive memorandum addressed to the legal issue involved, i.e., can this court exercise valid in personam jurisdiction over the defendant foreign corporation in the light of its remonstrance that it does not do business and has no office within this state? The plaintiff bases its claim of valid jurisdiction in compliance with our state statute on the claim of adequate adherence to the essential requisites laid down in the leading case on in personam service decided by the United States Supreme Court — InternationalShoe Co. v. Washington,
The main thrust of the defendant's claim would appear to be that the "minimum contacts" test, referred to in the International Shoe case, supra, 316, with this state, which is a prerequisite to proper applicability of § 33-411, has not been met. TheInternational Shoe case blazed the path with a newly liberalized and more realistic test of a foreign corporation's "contacts" with a state, putting stress upon the nature and quality of those contacts — rather than by quantitative measurement thereof. The plaintiff's brief makes reference to a number of recent cases which have followed the path of theInternational Shoe case to give further body to the "minimum contacts" theory. In McGee v. InternationalLife Ins. Co.,
The court's own research reveals that in quite recent cases the theory of "minimum contacts" required to confer jurisdiction is further elucidated.Courtesy Chevrolet, Inc. v. Tennessee WalkingHorse Breeders' Exhibitors' Assn.,
The case of Aftanase v. Economy Baler Co.,
Elkhart Engineering Corporation v. DornierWerke,
The case of Deveny v. Rheem Mfg. Co.,
The question whether a foreign corporation has sufficient contacts with a state to confer jurisdiction upon it is one of fact. Jennings v. McCall Corporation,
The plaintiff's demurrer to plea in abatement is sustained. The defendant's plea in abatement is overruled.