Hayden v. Shin-Etsu Handotai America, Inc.

80 F. Supp. 2d 1119, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21680, 1999 WL 1042971
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJune 4, 1999
DocketCiv. 97-1752-AA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 80 F. Supp. 2d 1119 (Hayden v. Shin-Etsu Handotai America, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hayden v. Shin-Etsu Handotai America, Inc., 80 F. Supp. 2d 1119, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21680, 1999 WL 1042971 (D. Or. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

AIKEN, District Judge.

Defendant Containerware, Inc. (“Con-tainerware”) moves to dismiss this action, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2), for lack of personal jurisdiction. Defendant’s motion is granted.

STANDARDS

Personal jurisdiction in patent cases is decided under Federal Circuit law, rather than that of the regional circuit in which the case arose. Akro Corp. v. Luker, 45 F.3d 1541, 1543 (Fed.Cir.1995).

Plaintiffs here allege that this court has specific jurisdiction over the defendant. That is when a cause of action arises directly from the defendant’s contacts with the forum state. See Burger King v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 473 n. 15, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). Determining whether jurisdiction exists over an out-of-state defendant involves two inquiries: (1) whether the forum state has an applicable long-arm statute; and (2) whether the assertion of jurisdiction comports with the constitutional requirements of due process. Graphic Controls Corp. v. Utah Medical Products, Inc., 149 F.3d 1382, 1385 (Fed.Cir.1998). Oregon’s jurisdictional statute confers personal jurisdiction coextensive with due process. Or.R.Civ.P. 4L. As a result, this court need only analyze whether exercising jurisdiction comports with due process. Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co. v. CFMT, *1121 Inc., 142 F.3d 1266, 1270 (Fed.Cir.1998) (“because California’s long-arm statute is coextensive with the limits of due process ... the two inquiries collapse into a single inquiry: whether jurisdiction comports with due process”).

The Supreme Court requires that an out-of-state defendant have at least “minimum contacts” with the forum prior to being haled into court there. See International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). The Court said:

[D]ue process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend ‘traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.’

Id. at 316, 66 S.Ct. 154.

From there, the Federal Circuit has developed a three-part test to determine personal jurisdiction over a defendant:

[1] whether the defendant purposefully directed its activities at residents of the forum,
[2] whether the claim arises out of or relates to the defendant’s activities with the forum, and
[3] whether assertion of personal jurisdiction is reasonable and fair.

Genetic Implant Systems, Inc. v. CoreVent Corp., 123 F.3d 1455 (Fed.Cir.1997).

The Supreme Court has split over the requirements for the “purposeful availment” element in the context of the stream of commerce theory of jurisdiction. Asahi Metal Indus. Co. v. Superior Court, 480 U.S. 102, 112, 107 S.Ct. 1026, 94 L.Ed.2d 92 (1987). Asahi is a plurity opinion whereby four justices endorsed the view that personal jurisdiction requires more than the mere act of placing a product in the stream of commerce, where the stream eventually sweeps defendant’s product into the forum state without the defendant doing anything else to purposefully avail itself of the market in the forum state. Id. at 110, 107 S.Ct. 1026. Rather, there must be some additional conduct by the defendant to indicate an intent to serve the market in the forum. Id. at 112, 107 S.Ct. 1026. The remaining justices concurred in the plurality’s holding that California’s exercise of jurisdiction did not comport with “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice,” but did not join in the plurity’s holding that Asahi did not possess minimum contacts with California.

The Federal Circuit has not taken a position on this split. See Beverly Hills Fan Co. v. Royal Sovereign Corp., 21 F.3d 1558, 1567 (Fed.Cir.1994). However, resolution of this issue is not necessary for purposes of this case because I conclude that any contact by Containerware with this forum which could fairly be said to give rise to or relate to the claims in this case is too random, fortuitous and attenuated for application of either version of the “stream of commerce” theory.

DISCUSSION

This is a patent infringement case brought by plaintiffs against several defendant companies. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants have infringed their patent number 4,662,811 (the “811 Patent”) which is an invention of a “method and apparatus for orienting semiconductor wafers.” Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, ¶ 2. Plaintiff HDL Machining, Inc. alleges that it is the exclusive licensee of the ’811 Patent.

Specifically, plaintiffs allege that Con-tainerware:

was and is an Arizona corporation. It makes, sells, and uses devices which infringe the ’811 Patent. It has infringed the ’811 Patent and induced or contributed to the infringement of the ’811 Patent in the State of Oregon.

Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, ¶ 5.

Containerware is not registered to do business in Oregon, and its nearest office is located in Phoenix, Arizona. However, in 1990 and 1993, Containerware made two sales of WF-4 flat aligners to a *1122 company in Bend, Oregon. The 1990 sale of four flat aligners falls outside the six year damages period in 35 U.S.C. § 286. Therefore, at issue here is one sale made by Containerware in 1993 to a company located in Oregon. Containerware no longer makes or sells flat aligners. Con-tainerware has not sold any WF-4 flat aligners, or any product, since the 1993 sale to any company or individual in Oregon. Containerware has .never sent a salesperson to Oregon, has not sent its brochure or catalog into Oregon, and has not had a representative in Oregon since at least 1987.

The parties have previously discussed the accused device (the WF-4 flat aligners).

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Bluebook (online)
80 F. Supp. 2d 1119, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21680, 1999 WL 1042971, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayden-v-shin-etsu-handotai-america-inc-ord-1999.