Red Hill Ranch, LLC v. Old South Carriage Co.

225 F. Supp. 3d 422, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189394, 2015 WL 12990998
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedOctober 20, 2015
DocketCivil Action No.: 2:15-cv-2982-RMG
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 225 F. Supp. 3d 422 (Red Hill Ranch, LLC v. Old South Carriage Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Red Hill Ranch, LLC v. Old South Carriage Co., 225 F. Supp. 3d 422, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189394, 2015 WL 12990998 (D.S.C. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

Richard Mark Gergel, United States District Court Judge

This matter is before the court on Defendants Gary Wammock’s and Wammock Milling Company, Inc.’s motion to dismiss (Dkt. No. 18). For the reasons below, the motion is granted.

Background

Plaintiffs Amy Dobranski and Red Hill Ranch, LLC developed a low-starch grain-free horse feed in 2007 and began labelling [424]*424it as Keep Pace in May 2008. In 2011, Plaintiffs entered into an agreement with Quail Ridge Milling, Inc., a Georgia corporation located in Screven County, Georgia, to produce batches of Keep Pace. Pursuant to the agreement, a Quail Ridge representative signed a confidentiality agreement that obligated the company to “maintain the Keep Pace product information confidential and not to share it with others or otherwise use it for any purposes other than as specifically requested by Plaintiffs.” Plaintiffs ended their relationship with Quail Ridge, and Quail Ridge filed for bankruptcy in August 2011. (Dkt. No. 1 at 4-5)

For a period of time, Plaintiffs sold Keep Pace to Defendant Old South Carriage Company, Inc., a company that provides horse-drawn carriage tours of Charleston. Old South stopped purchasing Keep Pace from Plaintiffs, and in 2015, Plaintiffs discovered that Old South was purchasing its horse feed from Defendant Wammock Milling Company, Inc. Wam-mock Milling named its horse feed “Carriage Company.”

Plaintiffs allege that Wammock Milling is the successor in interest to Quail Ridge. (Dkt. No. 1 at 3). It further alleges that Wammock Milling knew or should have known that it was in possession of the Keep Pace formula based on conversations between Plaintiffs and Wammock Milling representatives that took place in 2011 and 2012. (Dkt. No. 1 at 7).

Plaintiffs allege that Carriage Company’s composition and labelling has been copied from Keep Pace. They also allege that the Carriage Company product “includes additional ingredients not listed on the label.” They allege—on information and belief—that Wammock Milling has not performed any “scientific analysis to support their claim of a Guaranteed Analysis of the contents of their Carriage Company product[,] ... but have instead simply copied it from the Plaintiffs’] product label.” (Dkt. No. 1 at 6).

On July 29, 2015, Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging eleven separate causes of action against Defendants. (Dkt. No. 1). And on September 11, 2015, Defendants Gary Wammock and Wammock Milling (the “Wammock Defendants”) filed this motion to dismiss pursuant to Rules 12(b)(2) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Dkt. No. 18).

Rule 12(b)(2)—Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

When a court’s personal jurisdiction is challenged, the burden is on the plaintiff to establish that grounds for personal jurisdiction exist. Combs v. Bakker, 886 F.2d 673, 676 (4th Cir. 1989). When, as here, the court resolves the motion on written submissions (as opposed to an evi-dentiary hearing), the plaintiff need only make a “prima facie showing of sufficient jurisdictional basis,” and the court must construe relevant allegations in favor of the plaintiff. Id. “In deciding whether a plaintiff has proven a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction, a court may consider all parties’ pleadings, affidavits, and other supporting documents presented to the court.” Sonoco Products Co. v. ACE INA Ins., 877 F.Supp.2d 398, 404 (D.S.C. 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Once a defendant presents evidence indicating that the requisite minimum contacts do not exist, the plaintiff must come forward with affidavits or other evidence in support of its position.” Vision Motor Cars, Inc. v. Valor Motor Co., 981 F.Supp.2d 464, 468 (M.D.N.C. 2013).

Plaintiff asserts claims against the Wammock Defendants for Lanham Act violations, Copyright Act violations, and South Carolina state law violations. Neither the Lanham Act nor the Copyright [425]*425Act provides for nationwide service of process,1 and the Wammoek Defendants reside in Georgia. When federal claims do not provide for nationwide service of process and defendants do not reside within the forum state, the Court must generally determine (1) whether the forum state’s long-arm statute authorizes personal jurisdiction, and (2) if such authorization exists, whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction comports with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. CFA Inst. v. Inst. of Chartered Fin. Analysts of India, 551 F.3d 285, 292 (4th Cir. 2009). South Carolina has interpreted its long-arm statute to be coextensive with the due process clause. Cockrell v. Hillerich & Bradsby Co., 363 S.C. 485, 611 S.E.2d 505, 508 (2005). Accordingly, the sole question becomes whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction would violate due process.2

The Fourth Circuit has outlined three factors district courts should consider to determine whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction comports with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment: “(1) the extent to which the defendant purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities in the State; (2) whether the plaintiffs’ claims arise out of those activities directed at the State; and (3) whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction would be constitutionally reasonable.” Consulting Engineers Corp. v. Geometric Ltd., 561 F.3d 273, 278 (4th Cir. 2009).

To determine whether a defendant purposefully availed himself of the forum state, courts look at a variety of factors, including (a) whether the defendant maintains offices or agents in a foreign state; (b) whether the defendant owns property in the forum state; (c) whether the defendant reached into the forum state to solicit or initiate business; (d) whether the defendant deliberately engaged in significant or long-term business activities in the forum state; (e) whether the parties contractually agreed that the law of the forum state would govern disputes; (f) whether the defendant made in-person contact with the resident of the forum in the forum state regarding the business relationship; (g) the nature, quality, and extent of the parties’ communications about the business being transacted; and (h) whether the performance of contractual duties was to occur within the forum state. Id. (collecting cases). The inquiry stops if the court determines that the defendant does not satisfy the first prong. Id.

The Wammoek Defendants assert that they “have no connection to South Carolina that would support the exercise of jurisdiction over them.” (Dkt. No. 18). This Court agrees.

Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges, “on information and belief,” that (1) “Old South has been ordering and receiving from Wam-mock,” and (2) that “the Carriage Company product [is] being produced by Wam-mock in Georgia for use by and sale to Old South and others in South Carolina.” (Dkt. No. 1 at 6).

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225 F. Supp. 3d 422, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189394, 2015 WL 12990998, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/red-hill-ranch-llc-v-old-south-carriage-co-scd-2015.