Welsh v. Takekawa Iron Works Co., Ltd.

529 N.W.2d 471, 1995 WL 141745
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedApril 4, 1995
DocketC0-94-1918
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 529 N.W.2d 471 (Welsh v. Takekawa Iron Works Co., Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welsh v. Takekawa Iron Works Co., Ltd., 529 N.W.2d 471, 1995 WL 141745 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

529 N.W.2d 471 (1995)

Neil V. WELSH, Respondent,
v.
TAKEKAWA IRON WORKS CO., LTD., Appellant,
v.
EVANS ROTORK, INC., et al., Defendants.

No. C0-94-1918.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

April 4, 1995.

*472 James R. Bettenburg, Dennis K. Kispert, Bettenburg Law Firm, St. Paul, for respondent.

Steven J. Muth, Louise A. Behrendt, Stich, Angell, Kreidler & Muth, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Lawrence R. King, Daniel J. Trudeau, King & Hatch, P.A., St. Paul, for defendants.

Considered and decided by NORTON, P.J., SCHUMACHER and MANSUR,[*] JJ.

OPINION

MARTIN J. MANSUR, Judge.

Appellant, a Japanese corporation, argues the district court erred by denying its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, contending it has insufficient Minnesota contacts to satisfy due process requirements. We agree and reverse.

FACTS

Respondent Neil Welsh, a Minnesota resident, was severely injured while using a ripsaw in the course of his employment. He initiated a personal injury suit against appellant Takekawa Iron Works, Co., Ltd., and defendants Evans Rotork, Inc. (Rotork) and Johnson Wood Products, Inc. Rotork admitted Takekawa designed, manufactured and shipped a rip-saw to Rotork in Arizona, and Rotork sold and shipped the saw to Johnson Wood Products in Minnesota. Johnson Wood Products then allegedly sold the saw to Hardwood Visuals, Inc., Welsh's employer.

Takekawa moved to dismiss for insufficient service of process and lack of personal jurisdiction. An affidavit signed by Welsh's attorney was submitted in opposition to the motion to dismiss.[1] It states that the attorney and others in his office contacted organizations in the industry and learned that (1) local dealers have a directory listing for Takekawa through a Miami, Florida, company, A.C. Sales, that has an 800 number by which *473 people throughout the United States can contact the company regarding Takekawa's saws and industrial equipment; (2) A.C. Sales does business through a Minnesota "dealer" located in Minneapolis; and (3) another Minneapolis company has occasionally sold and serviced used Takekawa saws.

Takekawa is a Japanese corporation that has never been incorporated in the United States or had offices, employees or agents in the United States. It does not own property or maintain stock of its products here. Its distributors are not Takekawa subsidiaries, and the distributors and Takekawa do not have common officers or directors or file joint tax returns. Takekawa does not have a distributor in Minnesota, and claims no knowledge of its products being sold in Minnesota.

The district court denied Takekawa's motions to dismiss. Takekawa appeals only the refusal to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The other defendants did not take a position on the motions below and did not participate in this appeal.

ISSUE

Does appellant Takekawa have sufficient Minnesota contacts to satisfy due process requirements for asserting personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation?

ANALYSIS

The determination of whether personal jurisdiction exists is a question of law, subject to de novo review on appeal. Stanek v. A.P.I., Inc., 474 N.W.2d 829, 832 (Minn. App.1991), pet. for rev. denied (Minn. Oct. 31, 1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 977, 112 S.Ct. 1603, 118 L.Ed.2d 316 (1992). "An order denying a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction is appealable as of right." Id. at 831.

To exercise personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation, a court must find statutory grounds for asserting jurisdiction exist and constitutional due process requirements are satisfied. Marquette Nat'l Bank of Minneapolis v. Norris, 270 N.W.2d 290, 294 (Minn.1978). Takekawa concedes that Minn. Stat. § 543.19 (1992), Minnesota's long-arm statute, applies if due process is satisfied because the statute extends jurisdiction to the full extent allowed by due process. See Valspar Corp. v. Lukken Color Corp., 495 N.W.2d 408, 410-11 (Minn.1992). The focus therefore is on whether due process requirements are met. The plaintiff must allege facts, which will be taken as true, that make a prima facie showing of sufficient Minnesota contacts. Hardrives, Inc. v. City of LaCrosse, 307 Minn. 290, 293, 240 N.W.2d 814, 816 (1976).

Due process limits a state's authority to exercise personal jurisdiction over foreign corporations. Falkirk Mining Co. v. Japan Steel Works, 906 F.2d 369, 373 (8th Cir.1990). It permits a court to exercise jurisdiction over a foreign corporation only if the corporation has sufficient minimum contacts with the state and has engaged in "conduct indicating that the [corporation] could reasonably anticipate being sued there." Real Properties, Inc. v. Mission Ins., 427 N.W.2d 665, 667 (Minn.1988). There must "be some act by which the defendant purposefully avails itself of the privilege of" doing business in the state, thereby seeking the benefits and privileges of the state's laws. Falkirk Mining Co., 906 F.2d at 374 (citing Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1240, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958)).

To determine whether due process requirements are satisfied, Minnesota courts consider five factors: (1) the quantity of the state contacts, (2) the contacts' nature and quality, (3) the source and connection of the cause of action with the contacts, (4) Minnesota's interest in providing a forum, and (5) the convenience of the parties. Marquette Nat'l Bank of Minneapolis, 270 N.W.2d at 295. The first three are primary considerations; the fourth and fifth are given secondary weight. Id.

Welsh has not alleged any direct contacts between Takekawa and Minnesota. In products liability cases, however, a plaintiff can rely on a foreign corporation's indirect contacts with a state under the "stream-of-commerce" theory. Helten v. Arthur J. Evers Corp., 372 N.W.2d 380, 382 (Minn.App. 1985), pet. for rev. denied (Minn. Oct. 21, *474 1985). This theory prevents a manufacturer from escaping jurisdiction by selling its products in other states through intermediaries or claiming ignorance of where its products are eventually sold. Rostad v. On-Deck, Inc., 372 N.W.2d 717, 721 (Minn.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1006, 106 S.Ct. 528, 88 L.Ed.2d 460 (1985). When a manufacturer places a product in the "stream-of-commerce," attempting to serve directly or indirectly a state's market for its product, jurisdiction can be asserted. Id.

In cases in which the stream-of-commerce theory has been used to infer extensive contacts between a foreign corporation and Minnesota, facts showing wide-scale marketing efforts or nationwide sales of commonly used products justified the inference. See id.

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Bluebook (online)
529 N.W.2d 471, 1995 WL 141745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welsh-v-takekawa-iron-works-co-ltd-minnctapp-1995.