Friday, October 31, 2008

Website provides prima facie case for exercise of personal jurisdiction in a patent case

In determining whether a website provides sufficient minimum contacts for exercise of personal jurisdiction in a patent case, courts "must look to traditional sources of contract law" and "whether a website contains offers to sell infringing products is a fact intensive inquiry which must be done on a case by case basis." Where "the parties conceded that no one in the Eastern District of Texas had purchased an alleged infringing product through the defendant's website," the court nevertheless found a prima facie case of minimum contacts because "[defendant] used its website to sell the allegedly infringing products to customers. . . . [and the] website contained detailed product information and pricing information."

Invitrogen Corp. v. Evident Technologies, Inc., 6-08-cv-00163 (TXED October 29, 2008, Report & Recommendation).

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