United Airlines, Inc. v. Zaman

152 F. Supp. 3d 1041, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56982, 2015 WL 2011720
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 30, 2015
DocketCase No. 14 C 9214
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 152 F. Supp. 3d 1041 (United Airlines, Inc. v. Zaman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United Airlines, Inc. v. Zaman, 152 F. Supp. 3d 1041, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56982, 2015 WL 2011720 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

John Robert Blakey, United States District Judge

In order to exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant, this Court must determine whether the defendant has a “substantial connection” with Illinois, that is, whether the defendant’s contacts connect him to Illinois in a “meaningful way.” See Walden v. Fiore, — U.S.-, 134 S.Ct. 1115, 1121, 1125, 188 L.Ed.2d 12 (2014). Based on controlling case law, such contacts must satisfy at least three requirements: (1) the contacts are created by the defendant himself; (2) the contacts are targeted at the forum state (as opposed to merely persons who reside there); and (3) the contacts bear on the substantive legal dispute. In this case, the record only shows a limited course of dealing between the parties and the Defendant’s Illinois contacts were with a third-party. Such contacts, even where relevant, are not meaningful enough to warrant exercising personal jurisdiction over the Defendant.

As explained below, this a trademark infringement action brought by Plaintiff United Airlines against Defendant Aktarer Zaman, who operates the website Ski-plagged.com. Skiplagged.com aggregates flight information from airlines and booking websites, and links to those websites so that users can purchase tickets. Unlike other booking websites, Skiplagged.com also enables consumers to engage in a practice known as “hidden city” ticketing. That is where a passenger purchases a ticket on a flight where their destination is a layover stop. Rather than buying a direct ticket from Chicago to Denver, for example, it may be cheaper to buy a ticket from Chicago to San Jose with a layover in Denver and then skip the second leg of the flight (from Denver to San Jose). Based on Defendant’s operation of Ski-plagged.com, Plaintiff brings three claims: (1) violation of the Lanham Act; (2) tor-tious interference with contract; and (3) misappropriation.

Defendant, a New York resident, has moved to dismiss [24] for lack of personal [1045]*1045jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2).

This Court grants the motion.'

I. Legal Standard

A motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(2) tests whether a federal court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant. When deciding a Riile 12(b)(2) motion without an evidentiary hearing, as here, Plaintiff must make a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction. uBID, Inc. v. GoDaddy Group, Inc., 623 F.3d 421, 423-24 (7th Cir.2010); GCIU-Employer Retirement Fund v. Goldfarb Corp., 565 F.3d 1018, 1023 (7th Cir.2009).

Plaintiff bears the burden of establishing that personal jurisdiction exists. Advanced Tactical Ordnance Systems, LLC v. Real Action Paintball, Inc., 751 F.3d 796, 799 (7th Cir.2014); uBID, 623 F.3d at 423-24; Goldfarb, 565 F.3d at 1023. To determine whether Plaintiff has met its burden, this Court may Consider affidavits from both parties. Felland v. Clifton, 682 F.3d 665, 672 (7th Cir.2012). When Defendant challenges by declaration a fact alleged in the' Complaint, Plaintiff has an obligation to go beyond the pleadings and submit affirmative evidence supporting the exercise of jurisdiction. Purdue Research Foundation v. Sanofi-Synthelabo, S.A., 338 F.3d 773, 783 (7th Cir.2003). Courts must also resolve all factual disputes in Plaintiffs favor. Northern Grain Marketing, LLC v. Greving, 743 F.3d 487, 491 (7th Cir.2014); Goldfarb, 565 F.3d at 1020 n. 1. Unrefuted facts in Defendant’s affidavits, however, will be taken as true. Goldfarb, 565 F.3d at 1020 n. 1. While in this context affidavits trump the pleadings, in the end, all facts disputed in the affidavits will be resolved in Plaintiffs favor. Purdue Research Foundation, 338 F.3d at 782.

II. Facts1

Defendant, a New York resident, is the founder and CEO of Skiplagged.com. Complaint ¶ 11; Zaman Affidavit ¶ 2. Skiplagged.com aggregates flight information from airlines and booking websites, such as United.com and Orbitz.com, and links to those websites so that users can purchase tickets.... Complaint ¶¶ 3, ,30, 33, 39, 45. The website, in particular, enables consumers to engage in “hidden city” ticketing, Complaint -¶¶ 3, 30, which is where a passenger purchases a ticket on a flight where their, destination is a layover stop, Complaint ¶¶ 3-4; Zaman Affidavit ¶ 3. .

The relevant background began December 29,2013, when Defendant entered into an Affiliate Agreement with Orbitz, LLC (a former co-plaintiff in this action). Complaint ¶¶ 6,15, 22. Defendant, among other things, agreed not to link to Orbitz.com for illegitimate reservations and bookings or to disguise the origin of information transmitted through .Orbitz.com. Complaint ¶ 23. , Under the “Miscellaneous” provision of the Affiliate Agreement, Defendant consented to jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois for “any dispute involving this Agreement.” Complaint ¶ 15; Affiliate Agreement, attached as Exhibit A to Complaint. In the same provision, Defendant also agreed that the Affiliate Agreement would be governed by Illinois law. Complaint ¶ 15. The Agreement was terminated on September 3, 2014. Complaint ¶ 22.

In August .2014, Plaintiff, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Illinois, learned that Defendant had been promoting hidden city ticketing [1046]*1046since at least early 2014/ Complaint ¶¶ 3-6, 8, 30, 39; Radcliffe Declaration ¶ 1. Plaintiff also learned that Skiplagged.com redirected consumers to United.cóm to make hidden city and other bookings on United flights. Radcliffe Declaration ¶ 30. Plaintiff later discovered that Defendant also redirected consumers to other booking websites- in the same way. Complaint ¶¶ 30, 39.

On September 5, 2014, Plaintiff, through its Managing Counsel, Mike Henning, sent a cease and desist letter to Defendant. Complaint ¶ 53. Mr. Henning demanded that' Defendant refrain from offering hidden city ticketing of United flights because it was prohibited by Section 6(J) of Plaintiff s Contract of Carriage with its customers. Complaint ¶ 53; Radcliffe- Declaration ¶ 4. The cover email to the letter and the-subsequent email .chain, but not the letter itself, is-part of. the record. See generally Email Chain [34-2]. Mr. Hen-ning’s email signature block identifies his office address as Houston, Texas. Email' Chain [34-2] at 6.-

The sanie day, Defendant responded to Mr;' Henning, outlining his disagreements with the letter and also proposing a partnership between the parties:

... Skiplagged has been partnering directly with airlines and has several partners already.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
152 F. Supp. 3d 1041, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56982, 2015 WL 2011720, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-airlines-inc-v-zaman-ilnd-2015.