Hitt v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd.

399 F. Supp. 838, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11356
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 21, 1975
Docket74-1647-Civ-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 399 F. Supp. 838 (Hitt v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hitt v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd., 399 F. Supp. 838, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11356 (S.D. Fla. 1975).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING MOTIONS OF DEFENDANT NISSAN MOTOR COMPANY, LTD. TO QUASH SERVICE AND DISMISS THE COMPLAINTS FOR LACK OF IN PERSONAM JURISDICTION AND VENUE

ATKINS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Motions of defendant Nissan Motor Company Ltd. (Nissan Japan) to quash service and dismiss the complaints for lack of in personam jurisdiction and venue in all above captioned actions 1 with the exception of the New York action ** [Scharf v. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., et al., 73-121-Civ-CA], the two New Jersey actions [Supreme Title Co. v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd., et al., 74-1652-Civ-CA and P. D. Q., Inc. and Scharf v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd.,

*840 74-1543-Civ-CA] and the Minnesota action [Chester v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd., et al., 75-61-Civ-CA].

Defendant Nissan-Japan does not challenge the service of process in any of the subject actions except the California action [Ingram v. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. et al., 74-1698-Civ-CA] and the Missouri action [Hitt v. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., et al., 74-1647-Civ-CA], The dispute as to service of process may be disposed of promptly.

In each of these actions, the summons and a copy of the complaint were served personally on Nissan-Japan in care of Frederick W. Rose, registered agent, 794 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey, and mailed to the President of defendant Nissan-Japan, 6 — Chome, Chuo Ku, Tokyo, Japan, by registered mail return receipt requested and the returns have been received by the California and Missouri Courts. Therefore, since § 12 of the Clayton Act [15 U.S.C. § 22 (1970)], supplemented by Rules 4(d)(3), 4(e), and 4(i)(l)(D), F.R.Civ.P., authorize service in this manner, service of process was proper in the California and Missouri actions.

VENUE

Section 12 of the Clayton Act, 15 U. S.C. § 22 [1970] contains the provisions for venue and service of process in private antitrust actions and it provides:

Any suit, action, or proceeding under the antitrust laws against a corporation may be brought not only in the judicial district whereof it is an inhabitant, but also in any district wherein it may be found or transacts business; and all process in such cases may be served in the district of which it is an inhabitant, or wherever it may be found.

Section 12, in its present form, was enacted in 1914 to enlarge the venue and jurisdiction provisions of Section 7 of the Sherman Act. It added the phrase “transacts business” to the already existing criteria “found” or “doing business.” 2

The phrase “transacts business” has been given a liberal construction in line with the Congressional policy of enabling a person allegedly injured by violations of the antitrust laws to have redress in his home district. 3 Consequently, fewer local contacts are necessary to find that a corporation is transacting business under Section 12 than doing business under the former Section 7 of the Sherman Act. 4 The test for venue under Section 12 is the practical everyday business or commercial concept of doing or carrying on business of any substantial character. 5

Substantiality of business is to be valued from the standpoint of the average businessman rather than that of the corporate giant to avoid the situation whereby “a large corporation could, with impunity, engage in the same act which would subject a smaller corporation to jurisdiction and venue. 6 Thus, the Congressional intent was to substitute “practical, business conceptions for the previous hair splitting legal technicalities.” 7

In 1948, the United States Supreme Court ■ in United States v. Scophony *841 Corp. of America, supra, held that a British corporation was both “found” and “transacting business” in the New York district within § 12 of the Clayton Act and there was no due process viola? tion in finding that there was jurisdiction over the British corporation. Scophony was a civil antitrust proceeding based upon alleged violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. Due to problems with exporting currency out of England during wartime, Scophony, Ltd., was unable to continue development, manufacture and sale of television equipment in England. Consequently, through a series of contractual arrangements with existing American corporations, Scophony, Ltd., a British corporation, formed American Scophony to exploit the American market, utilize Scophony, Ltd.’s patents and sell its products. Shareholder Scophony, Ltd. retained the right to choose three of five directors and the President, Vice-President and Treasurer of American Scophony. The American shareholder corporations were allowed to choose two of the five directors and the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of American Scophony but the presence of one of these two directors was necessary for a quorum. Hence, the minority shareholder American corporations retained a veto power over the operations of American Scophony which eventually led to a corporate deadlock. Scophony, Ltd. originally had intended to establish itself in the United States as a manufacturer and seller of television equipment but when that plan failed it turned to licensing and exploiting its patents by a means described by the Court as a joint adventure with other companies. It was through these activities described as a “continuous course of business” within the district that the Supreme court held that Scophony, Ltd. was “transacting business” of a substantial character. Id. 333 U.S. at 810, 68 S.Ct. 855, 92 L.Ed. 1091. The Court also noted that agents of Scophony, Ltd. were present within the district to carry on the British corporation’s affairs related to resuscitating its business and putting it on a normal course again. The Court noted that when the entire course of events was viewed as a whole, Scophony, Ltd. had not created and maintained American Scophony as an investment but merely as another means of transacting business in the United States. Since Scophony, Ltd.’s ultimate objective of exploiting the American market had remained the same, the Court decided that a mere change in the methods of achieving this objective did not serve to isolate the company from jurisdiction or process under the antitrust laws. Id., 333 U.S. at 810-811, 68 S.Ct. 855, 92 L.Ed. 1091. 8

Scophony, supra, is helpful in analyzing the element of control. In Scophony,

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Bluebook (online)
399 F. Supp. 838, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hitt-v-nissan-motor-company-ltd-flsd-1975.