Hoechst Celanese Corp. v. Nylon Engineering Resins, Inc.

896 F. Supp. 1190, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12257, 1995 WL 505516
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 21, 1995
Docket94-346-CIV-FTM-24D
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 896 F. Supp. 1190 (Hoechst Celanese Corp. v. Nylon Engineering Resins, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hoechst Celanese Corp. v. Nylon Engineering Resins, Inc., 896 F. Supp. 1190, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12257, 1995 WL 505516 (M.D. Fla. 1995).

Opinion

896 F.Supp. 1190 (1995)

HOECHST CELANESE CORP., Plaintiff,
v.
NYLON ENGINEERING RESINS, INC., and Thomas Popoli, Defendants.

No. 94-346-CIV-FTM-24D.

United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Fort Myers Division.

August 21, 1995.

*1191 Gary T. Stiphany, Concepcion, Sexton & Stiphany, P.A., Coral Gables, FL, Daniel Ebenstein, Anthony F. LoCicero, Sheryl D. Jassen, Neil S. Goldstein, Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein, New York City, for Hoechst Celanese Corporation.

Gregg Darrow Thomas, Holland & Knight, Tampa, FL, for Nylon Engineering Resins, Inc., Thomas E. Popoli.

Gary T. Stiphany, Concepcion, Sexton & Stiphany, P.A., Coral Gables, FL, Daniel Ebenstein, Anthony F. LoCicero, Sheryl D. Jassen, Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein, New York City, for Carl Amond.

ORDER

BUCKLEW, District Judge.

This cause comes before the Court for consideration of the Counterdefendant Carl Amond's Motion to Dismiss Counterclaim (Doc. No. 26, filed January 23, 1995). The Counterplaintiff filed a response on February 6, 1995 (Doc. No. 31). Counterdefendant Carl Amond also filed a reply memorandum in support of his Motion to Dismiss (Doc. No. 38, filed March 13, 1995), to which Counterplaintiff filed a response on March 27, 1995 (Doc. No. 40).

The Counterdefendant, Carl Amond, is an executive of the Hoechst Celanese Corporation ("Hoechst Celanese") and a resident of Texas. Hoechst Celanese is a distributor of raw plastics materials.

The Counterplaintiff, Nylon Engineering Resins, Inc. ("Nylon Engineering"), is a Delaware corporation, headquartered in Ft. Myers, Florida, which imports and resells raw plastics materials. Thomas Popoli is the president of Nylon Engineering. Approximately 14% of Nylon Engineering's customer base also reside in the State of Florida.

On November 2, 1994, Hoechst Celanese filed a trademark infringement action against Nylon Engineering (to which Amond is not a party), alleging that the latter had counterfeited trademarks for certain of Hoechst Celanese's resins.

On November 4, 1994, Amond gave an interview in Akron, Ohio to Plastics News, a trade publication. Plastics News is published and printed by Crane Communications, Inc. in Illinois (where Crane is incorporated) and has its editorial headquarters in Ohio. Plastics News is published weekly and is circulated to approximately 60,000 subscribers. Around 1,100 (or 1.8%) of these subscribers reside in Florida. In this interview, Amond made statements to the effect that Nylon Engineering and Popoli had been selling from five to seven million pounds of counterfeit resins per year. The interview was published on November 14, 1994.

On December 5, 1994 (eight days after answering the original complaint), Nylon Engineering and Popoli (collectively, "Nylon *1192 Engineering") brought a counterclaim (pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 13(b)) against Hoechst Celanese and Amond, alleging that Amond defamed Nylon Engineering in his interview with Plastics News.

On January 23, 1995, Amond moved the Court to dismiss Nylon Engineering's Counterclaim for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Personal Jurisdiction

We move to the sole issue before the Court: Amond's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.[1] Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2). When a district court does not conduct a discretionary evidentiary hearing on a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, the plaintiff must establish a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. Madara v. Hall, 916 F.2d 1510, 1514 (11th Cir.1990) (citing Morris v. SSE, Inc., 843 F.2d 489, 492 (11th Cir.1988)). The district court must accept the facts alleged in the complaint as true, to the extent that they are uncontroverted by the defendant's affidavits, and where the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's affidavits conflict, the district court must construe all reasonable evidence in favor of the plaintiff. Id.

Whether the Court can exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant involves a two-part analysis. Madara, 916 F.2d at 1514; Cable/Home Communication Corp. v. Network Prods. Inc., 902 F.2d 829, 855 (11th Cir.1990). First the Court considers the jurisdictional question under Florida's long-arm statute. Madara, 916 F.2d at 1514; Cable/Home, 902 F.2d at 855. If there is a basis for the assertion of personal jurisdiction under the long-arm statute, the Court next determines whether the quantity and/or quality of the contacts between the defendant and the forum state satisfy the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment so as not to offend "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice." Madara, 916 F.2d at 1514 (quoting International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945)); Cable/Home, 902 F.2d at 855.

Personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant must be authorized by specific legislation: the state's "long-arm" statute. Omni Capital Int'l. v. Rudolf Wolff & Co., 484 U.S. 97, 109, 108 S.Ct. 404, 412, 98 L.Ed.2d 415 (1987). Because the reach of the Florida long-arm statute is a question of Florida law, federal courts are required to construe it as would the Florida Supreme Court. Madara, 916 F.2d at 1514 (citing Oriental Imports & Exports, Inc. v. Maduro & Curiel's Bank, N.V., 701 F.2d 889, 890-91 (11th Cir.1983)); Cable/Home, 902 F.2d at 856. In this instance, the relevant portion of the long-arm is its "Tortious Act Provision."[2] FLA.STAT.ANN. § 48.193(1)(b).

The Court determines that Florida law interpreting the Tortious Act Provision of the Florida Statutes provides a sufficient basis for asserting personal jurisdiction over the nonresident Counterdefendant. Florida courts have held that the provision encompasses libelous statements made toward Florida residents by a nonresident defendant. See, e.g., Firestone v. Time, Inc. 271 So.2d 745 (Fla.1972), vacated on other grounds, 424 U.S. 448, 96 S.Ct. 958, 47 L.Ed.2d 154 (1976) (defamation action against nonresident publisher of a nationally-distributed magazine); see also Rebozo v. Washington Post Co., 515 F.2d 1208, 1212 (5th Cir.1975)[3] (holding that where nonresident publisher prints and circulates allegedly *1193 libelous statement tortious act provision applies).

The fact that Amond is a private individual and not the publisher of Plastics News does not place him outside the scope of the Tortious Act Provision of Florida's long-arm statute. In Madara, 916 F.2d at 1515 n.

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