In re Atrium Med. Corp.

299 F. Supp. 3d 324
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Hampshire
DecidedNovember 14, 2017
DocketMDL Docket No. 16–md–2753–LM
StatusPublished

This text of 299 F. Supp. 3d 324 (In re Atrium Med. Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Atrium Med. Corp., 299 F. Supp. 3d 324 (D.N.H. 2017).

Opinion

Landya McCafferty, United States District Judge *328Getinge AB, one of the three defendants in this multi-district litigation, moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) to dismiss all claims against it for lack of personal jurisdiction. See doc. no. 80. Plaintiffs object to the motion to dismiss and also move for discovery on the issue of personal jurisdiction. See doc. no. 95. Getinge AB objects to discovery.

Background

Plaintiffs bring claims in individual cases for injuries they allege were caused by hernia repair products made from C-Qur mesh. They further allege that the C-Qur mesh products were developed, manufactured, marketed, and sold by the defendants, Getinge AB, Atrium Medical Corporation ("Atrium"), and Maquet Cardiovascular US Sales, LLC ("Maquet"). Atrium and Maquet are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Getinge AB. The cases have been consolidated in this court for pretrial proceedings as multi-district litigation.

Getinge AB moves to dismiss all claims against it for lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiffs object, arguing that they have satisfied their burden of showing that the court has personal jurisdiction over Getinge AB. Plaintiffs also move for leave to conduct discovery limited to Getinge AB's personal jurisdiction in the event that the court is not inclined to deny the motion to dismiss.

Discussion

In the Master Long Form Complaint, plaintiffs allege that Getinge AB is a Swedish corporation with its principal place of business in Sweden. They allege that Atrium is incorporated under the laws of Delaware with its principal place of business in New Hampshire, and Maquet is incorporated under the laws of Delaware with its principal place of business in New Jersey.

With regard to defendants' personal jurisdiction, plaintiffs allege:

24. Defendants have and continue to conduct substantial business in the State of New Hampshire and in this District, distribute Hernia Mesh Products in this District, receive substantial compensation and profits from sales of Hernia Mesh Products in this District, and made material omissions and misrepresentations and breaches of warranties in this District, so as to subject them to in personam jurisdiction in this District.
25. Defendants conducted business in the State of New Hampshire through sales representatives conducting business in the State of New Hampshire, and because Defendants were engaged in testing, developing, manufacturing, labeling, marketing, distributing, promoting and/or selling, either directly or indirectly, and/or through third parties or related entities, Hernia Mesh Products in New Hampshire.
26. Consistent with the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, this Court has in personam jurisdiction over Defendants, because Defendants are present in the State of New Hampshire, such that requiring an appearance does not offend traditional notices of fair and substantial justice.

Doc. no. 53.

Plaintiffs do not allege that Getinge AB itself has any physical presence in New Hampshire or anywhere in the United States. They allege, however, that this court has personal jurisdiction over Getinge AB for the following reasons:

• Getinge AB was directly responsible for the design, development, manufacture and sale of the C-Qur devices.
*329See doc. no. 53 at ¶¶ 9, 10, 15, 16, 18.
• Getinge AB assumed Atrium's liabilities, and is therefore liable as Atrium's successor. See id. at ¶ 8.
• Getinge AB is liable for Atrium's and Maquet's actions because they are Getinge AB's agents and/or alter egos. See id. at ¶¶ 11-14.

Getinge AB moves to dismiss, contending that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over it because it is a Swedish corporation without jurisdictional contacts with any state in the United States. It further contends it did not assume Atrium's liabilities and that plaintiffs cannot show that the activities of Atrium and Maquet can be imputed to Getinge AB.

Plaintiffs object, arguing first that Getinge AB has waived a personal jurisdiction defense or should be judicially estopped from asserting the defense. Plaintiffs also argue that personal jurisdiction exists because, as they alleged in their complaint, Getinge AB is responsible for the C-Qur products sold after it acquired Atrium and because the activities of Atrium and Maquet can be attributed to Getinge AB under theories of assumption of liability, agency, and alter ego. Alternatively, plaintiffs move for leave to conduct discovery on the jurisdictional issues.

I. Waiver

A defendant waives the defense of a lack of personal jurisdiction by failing to raise it in a timely motion or failing to include it in a responsive pleading. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(1). A defendant may also waive the defense through conduct that is inconsistent with the defense. Vazquez-Robles v. CommoLoCo, Inc., 757 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 2014). Conduct that may constitute waiver of the personal jurisdiction defense, in addition to a failure to raise the defense in a timely manner, includes "participation in, or encouragement of, the district court proceedings." Precision Etchings & Findings, Inc. v. LGP Gem, Ltd., 953 F.2d 21, 25 (1st Cir. 1992) ; Gen. Contracting & Trading Co., LLC v. Interpole, Inc., 940 F.2d 20, 22 (1st Cir. 1991) ; see also Lechoslaw v. Bank of Am., N.A., 618 F.3d 49, 55 (1st Cir. 2010).

Plaintiffs contend that Getinge AB has waived the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction by participating in the multi-district litigation and complying with various court orders without reserving the defense. Getinge AB argues that its involvement in routine case management matters did not waive its right to assert a lack of personal jurisdiction defense. Getinge AB also represents that it reserved the right in its response to plaintiffs' motion for transfer and consolidation and then asserted the defense in its answer and moved to dismiss in a timely manner.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

International Shoe Co. v. Washington
326 U.S. 310 (Supreme Court, 1945)
New Hampshire v. Maine
532 U.S. 742 (Supreme Court, 2001)
Lechoslaw v. Bank of America, N.A.
618 F.3d 49 (First Circuit, 2010)
Foster-Miller, Inc. v. Babcock & Wilcox Canada
46 F.3d 138 (First Circuit, 1995)
Negron-Torres v. Verizon Communicatio
478 F.3d 19 (First Circuit, 2007)
Astro-Med, Inc. v. Nihon Kohden America, Inc.
591 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 2009)
John Clark Donatelli v. National Hockey League
893 F.2d 459 (First Circuit, 1990)
Robert S. Boit v. Gar-Tec Products, Inc.
967 F.2d 671 (First Circuit, 1992)
Arthur F. Sawtelle, Etc. v. George E. Farrell
70 F.3d 1381 (First Circuit, 1995)
Daimler AG v. Bauman
134 S. Ct. 746 (Supreme Court, 2014)
Walden v. Fiore
134 S. Ct. 1115 (Supreme Court, 2014)
Vazquez-Robles v. CommoLoCo, Inc.
757 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 2014)
AngioDynamics, Inc. v. Biolitec AG
780 F.3d 429 (First Circuit, 2015)
A Corp. v. All American Plumbing, Inc.
812 F.3d 54 (First Circuit, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
299 F. Supp. 3d 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-atrium-med-corp-nhd-2017.