Floyd's 99 Holdings, LLC v. Jude's Barbershop, Inc.
Floyd's 99 Holdings, LLC v. Jude's Barbershop, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION AND IMPROPER VENUE
In this trademark infringement dispute, Plaintiff Floyd’s 99 Holdings, LLC (“Plaintiff” or “Floyd’s”) brings claims under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125, and the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. § 1114, as well as common law claims of unfair competition and trademark infringement. (Doc. # 1 at 6-7.) The matter currently before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction and Improper Venue. (Doc. # 24.)
I. BACKGROUND
A. INTRODUCTION
Floyd’s is a limited liability company and owner and franchisor of barbershops, with its principal place of business in Colorado. (Doc. # 1, ¶¶ 1, 5.) It utilizes federally registered trademarks, including a trademark of its unique interior design — also known as its “trade dress”
B. ADDITIONAL JURISDICTIONAL FACTS
Defendant Martin is a resident of the state of Michigan, and the Defendant limited liability companies and corporations are registered or incorporated in, and have their principal place of business in, Michigan. (Doc. # 1, ¶¶ 6-19.) Defendants have never provided any services, sold any products, nor conducted any business in the state of Colorado.
II. ANALYSIS
A. STANDARD OF REVIEW: RULE 12(b)(2) MOTION TO DISMISS
Plaintiff bears the burden of establishing the Court’s personal jurisdiction over Defendants. Dudnikov v. Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts, Inc., 514 F.3d 1063, 1070 (10th Cir. 2008) (citation omitted). Because this case is in the preliminary stages of litigation, that burden is less stringent that it otherwise would be. Wenz v. Memery Crystal, 55 F.3d 1503, 1505 (10th Cir. 1995). Where, as here, a district court considers a pre-trial motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, the plaintiff need only make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction. AST Sports Sci., Inc. v. CLF Distrib. Ltd., 514 F.3d 1054, 1056-57 (10th Cir. 2008). The plaintiff may make such a showing by demonstrating, via affidavits or other written materials, facts that if true would support jurisdiction over the defendant. Id.
In resolving this motion, the Court accepts as true all well-pled facts — i.e., facts that are neither conclusory nor speculative- — alleged in Plaintiffs complaint. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1070. Additionally, Plaintiff has “the duty to support jurisdictional allegations in a complaint by competent proof of the supporting facts if the jurisdictional allegations are challenged by an appropriate pleading.” Pytlik v. Prof'l Res., Ltd., 887 F.2d 1371, 1376 (10th Cir. 1989). The parties have each submitted supporting affidavits. If the parties’ affi
B. WHETHER THE COURT HAS JURISDICTION OVER DEFENDANTS
1. Legal Standard: Threshold “Minimum Contacts” Analysis
Colorado’s long-arm statute confers jurisdiction, in relevant part, over “any cause of action arising from ... [t]he commission of a tortious act within this state.” Colo.Rev.Stat. § 13-l-124(l)(b). Additionally, “tortious conduct in a foreign state which causes injury in Colorado may be deemed to be an act committed in Colorado so as to satisfy the long-arm statute.” D & D Fuller CATV Const., Inc. v. Pace, 780 P.2d 520, 524 (Colo. 1989). To obtain personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant in a diversity action, a plaintiff must show (1) that jurisdiction is legitimate under the laws of the forum state, and (2) that the exercise of jurisdiction does not offend the Due Process Clause. Soma Med. Int'l v. Standard Chartered Bank, 196 F.3d 1292, 1295 (10th Cir. 1999) (citation omitted). In Colorado, this two-pronged inquiry essentially collapses into one inquiry, because “Colorado’s long arm statute is coextensive with constitutional limitations imposed by the due process clause.” Grynberg v. Ivanhoe Energy, Inc., 666 F.Supp.2d 1218, 1229 (D.Colo. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Thus, “‘if jurisdiction is consistent with the due process clause, Colorado’s long arm statute authorizes jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant.’” Id. (quoting Benton v. Cameco Corp., 375 F.3d 1070, 1075 (10th Cir. 2004)); see also Archangel Diamond Corp. v. Lukoil, 123 P.3d 1187, 1193 (Colo. 2005) (same). Therefore, the Court asks whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction over Defendants comports with due process.
This is a two-step inquiry. First, the Court examines “whether the non-resident defendant has ‘minimum contacts’ with the forum state.” Melea, Ltd. v. Jawer SA, 511 F.3d 1060, 1065 (10th Cir. 2007) (quoting TH Agriculture & Nutrition, LLC v. Ace European Grp. Ltd., 488 F.3d 1282, 1287 (10th Cir. 2007)). Second, the Court considers “whether the court’s exercise of jurisdiction over the defendant offends ‘traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice,’ that is, whether the exercise of jurisdiction is ‘reasonable’ under the circumstances.” Id.
To have sufficient minimum contacts for “specific” personal jurisdiction,
In Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 789-90, 104 S.Ct. 1482, 79 L.Ed.2d 804 (1984), the Supreme Court articulated what is now known as the “Calder effects test.” The Court held that, where a defendant intentionally engages in tortious actions outside the forum state, and her actions are expressly directed at causing a harmful effect within that state, a sufficient nexus exists between the defendant and the state so as to satisfy due process and constitute “purposeful direction” under the “minimum contacts” analysis. Id.; see also D & D Fuller, 780 P.2d at 524 (describing and applying the Calder test). The Tenth Circuit has refined the Calder test to three elements, explaining that a defendant has “purposefully directed” its activities at Colorado or its residents when the defendant has (1) taken intentional tortious action, (2) that was expressly aimed at Colorado, (3) with the knowledge that the brunt of the injury from the action would be felt in Colorado. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1071; see also Impact Prods., 341 F.Supp.2d at 1190 (same). Further, the Tenth Circuit has taken a relatively “restrictive” approach when analyzing whether a defendant expressly aimed his activities at the forum state, explaining that the “express aiming” requirement looks at “where was the ‘focal point’ ” of the defendant’s intentional action, and has held that “the forum state itself must be the ‘focal point of the tort,’ ” Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1075 & n. 9 (quoting Far W. Capital, Inc. v. Towne, 46 F.3d 1071, 1080 (10th Cir. 1995)).
Indeed, the mere fact that an out-of-state defendant has committed a business tort that causes economic injury to a forum resident does not necessarily establish that the defendant engaged in the constitutionally required minimum contacts with the forum state. Far W. Capital, 46 F.3d at 1077-80. Instead, the plaintiff must show that there was “something more” by way of “minimum contacts” than the mere foreseeability of economic injury; “[t]hat ‘something more’ is the requirement that the defendant have ‘expressly aimed’ his activities at the forum state such that the forum is the ‘focal point’ of the tort and the injury.” Allison v. Wise, 621 F.Supp.2d 1114, 1120 (D.Colo. 2007) (citing Far W. Capital, 46 F.3d at 1078); see also Impact Prods., 341 F.Supp.2d at 1191 (same); Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1077 (same); Regional Airline Mgt. Sys., Inc. v. Airports USA, Inc., No. 06-cv-01758, 2007 WL 1059012, at *5 (D.Colo. Apr. 4, 2007) (unpublished) (same). The Tenth Circuit has cautioned that “those courts finding personal jurisdiction based upon an intentional tort analysis have not created a per se rule that an allegation of an intentional tort creates personal jurisdiction. Instead, they have
2. Plaintiff Cannot Establish that Defendants “Purposefully Directed” Their Conduct at the State of Colorado
Plaintiff has failed to allege facts that Defendants had such substantive, intentional, and/or purposeful contacts with the State of Colorado that the Court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction would meet the minimum contacts requirements of the Due Process Clause; therefore, Plaintiff fails to present a prima facie case for personal jurisdiction. Defendants’ two alleged contacts with the state — Defendants’ acts of alleged trademark infringement, and Martin’s taking of the Photograph — are addressed, in turn, below.
a) Defendants’ Alleged Trademark Infringement
Trademark infringement is considered an economic tort for the purposes of Colorado’s long-arm statute. Nestle Prepared Foods Co. v. Pocket Foods Corp., No. 04-cv-02533, 2007 WL 1058550, at *3 (D.Colo. Apr. 5, 2007) (unpublished). Plaintiff has adequately alleged that Defendants took intentionally tortious action and engaged in trademark infringement, and that Defendants did so with the knowledge that the brunt of the injury would be felt in Colorado. See Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1071. (Doc. #1, ¶¶ 30, 32-34; Doc. #1-2; Doc. #1-3; Doc. #28, ¶¶6-10.) However, Plaintiff has not met its burden to support its Complaint with “competent proof of the supporting [jurisdictional] facts,” Pytlik, 887 F.2d at 1376, because Plaintiff does not include any well-pled facts that Defendants’ actions in committing the tort of trademark infringement were^ — as is required under the Calder effects test — “expressly aimed” at Colorado, see Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1071. (See generally Doc. # 28, ¶¶ 1-17.) Rather, Plaintiffs Complaint alleges only that “Defendants engaged in such intentional infringement of Floyd’s 99’s Trade Dress with knowledge that it would cause injury to Floyd’s 99 in Colorado.”
However, the out-of-state commission of trademark infringement alone — even with knowledge that the infringement would cause economic injury in Colorado — falls
Instead, as already mentioned, Plaintiff must allege “something more” than mere foreseeable economic injury in the forum state to demonstrate that Defendants had sufficient minimum contacts, and that “something more” must be that Defendants “undertook intentional actions that were expressly aimed” at Colorado, such that the forum state was the “focal point” of Defendants’ actions. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1077; see also Reg’l Airline Mgmt. Sys., 2007 WL 1059012, at *5 (Plaintiff “must present ‘something more’ than the injuries [he] allegedly suffered as a result of the out-of-forum infringement.”) Here, the only other alleged contact with Colorado that could constitute “something more” was Defendant Martin’s visit to one of Plaintiffs barbershops and his taking the Photograph of himself in a barbershop chair.
b) The Defendants’ Photograph
Taking a photograph in a public business on a single occasion does not constitute sufficient “minimum contacts” with the State of Colorado to allow this Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over the photographer. First, for sufficient minimum contacts to exist, (i) Defendants must have purposefully directed activities at forum residents and (ii) the litigation must result from alleged injuries that arise out of those activities. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1071. As explained above, in order to establish “purposeful direction” under the Colder test, Plaintiff must show that Defendants’ actions (in committing the alleged tort) were “expressly aimed at the forum state,” and that the state was the “focal point” of the actions. Id. at 1075, 1077. The Photograph may arguably meet
The instant case is similar to Schwarzenegger v. Fred Martin Motor Co., 374 F.3d 797 (9th Cir. 2004), cited with approval in Impact Prods., 341 F.Supp.2d at 1190, in which an Ohio car dealer used Arnold Schwarzenegger’s photograph in.an advertisement without permission. Schwarzenegger sued in California, and the Ninth Circuit declined to find personal jurisdiction, because:
The [defendant’s] intentional act — the creation and publication of the Advertisement [using a copyrighted photograph] — was expressly aimed at Ohio rather than California. The purpose of the Advertisement was to entice Ohioans to buy or lease cars from [defendant] .... The Advertisement was never circulated in California, and [defendant] had no reason to believe that any Californians would see it and pay a visit to the dealership.... It may be true that [defendant’s] intentional act eventually caused harm to Schwarzenegger in California, and [defendant] may have known that Schwarzenegger lived in California. But this does not confer jurisdiction, for [defendant’s] express aim was local. We therefore conclude that the Advertisement was not expressly aimed at California.
Further, taking a photograph of a public business is not, itself, tortious.
Lastly, that the Photograph was taken in Colorado — the same state where Plaintiffs principal place of business is located- — was merely fortuitous, Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1071 (quoting Burger King, 471 U.S. at 475, 105 S.Ct. 2174), the kind of “contact” that the “minimum contacts” test is supposed to guard against. The Photograph very well could have been taken in any of the ten other states where Floyd’s franchises are located (Doc. # 1, ¶ 1), or from the Plaintiffs website in another state, which indicates that where the Photograph was taken is primarily a matter of happenstance. See GCI 1985-1 Ltd., 770 F.Supp. at 589-90 (holding that where plaintiff alleged economic injury resulting from defendant’s tortious conduct in North Carolina, court held that “the lost revenue ... injured GCI in Colorado only as a result of the fortuitous circumstance that GCI maintained its headquarters in Colorado,” and concluded personal jurisdiction in Colorado was not proper).
For the reasons provided above, the Court finds that Defendants have not had adequate “minimum contacts” with the state of Colorado for the exercise of in personam jurisdiction to be proper here.
Finally, the Court considers whether venue transfer would be appropriate. The federal transfer statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1631, provides that if a federal court determines that it lacks jurisdiction over a civil action, “the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action or appeal to any other such court in which the action or appeal could have been brought at the time it was filed or noticed.” 28 U.S.C. § 1631; see also In re Cline, 531 F.3d 1249, 1251 (10th Cir. 2008). Even though “§ 1631 contain[s] the word ‘shall,’ ... the phrase ‘if it is in the interest of justice’ ... grant[s] the [transferor] court discretion in making a decision to transfer an action or instead to dismiss the action without prejudice.” Cline, 531 F.3d at 1251 (first alteration in original). Factors relevant to the interest-of-justice determination include “whether the claims would be time barred if filed anew in the proper forum, whether the claims alleged are likely to have merit, and whether the claims were filed in good faith or if ... it was clear at the time of filing that the court lacked the requisite jurisdiction.” Id. Plaintiff did not request transfer in the event of dismissal due to lack of jurisdiction, and the current record discloses no reason to believe that the case would now be time-barred if Plaintiff refilled it in Michigan. See Doc. # 28 at 15 (discussing how Plaintiffs claims are not time-barred, and alleging that they arose as of October 11, 2011); see also Ford Motor Co. v. Catalanotte, 342 F.3d 543, 550 (6th Cir. 2003) (internal quotation omitted) (The “Lanham Act does not contain a statute of limitations. In determining when a plaintiffs suit should be barred under the Act, courts have consistently used principles of laches as developed by courts of equity.”) Accordingly, the Court declines to exercise its discretion to transfer the case.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, it is ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction and Improper Venue be GRANTED in part as to the
FURTHER ORDERED that the remaining motions pending in this case are DENIED AS MOOT. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that, although each party shall bear its own attorneys’ fees, Defendants shall have their costs by the filing of a Bill of Costs with the Clerk of the Court within fourteen days of the entry of judgment. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that this case be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
."Trade dress” refers to a product's "overall image and appearance, and may include features such as size, shape, color or color combinations, texture, graphics, and even particular sales techniques.” Sally Beauty Co., Inc. v. Beautyco, Inc., 304 F.3d 964, 977 (10th Cir. 2002). Here, Plaintiff's registered Trade Dress includes “vapor lock lights in metal cages, pendant lighting with exposed bulbs, mechanic's toolboxes, stainless steel counter-tops with cut-ins and cut-outs, a vertical wall sign, and a display wall for displaying music themed posters.” (Doc. # 1, ¶ 26.)
. Plaintiff alleges in its Complaint that Martin is Defendants' "agent” (Doc. #1, ¶ 2), and Martin’s affidavit indicates that he is the President of Jude’s Barbershops (Doc. # 29-1, ¶ 2).
. There is evidence that Defendants utilized Plaintiff’s Trade Dress in other ways, such as in the interior design of Defendants' stores. For purposes of this Order, because the Court draws all reasonable inferences in Plaintiff's favor, the Court assumes, but does not decide, that Defendants committed actions that could plausibly constitute trademark infringement.
. Plaintiffs Complaint alleges, in part, that the Court has jurisdiction because "Defendants transacted business in Colorado.” (Doc. # 1 at ¶ 23.) However, Plaintiff did not further substantiate this allegation. Additionally, Plaintiff’s Brief in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 28), and Plaintiff’s Supplemental Brief in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 47), are limited to Defendants’ alleged tortious acts as grounds for jurisdiction. Moreover, no evidence provided elsewhere, such as in the affidavits submitted to the Court, contradict Defendants' assertion that they have never conducted business in Colorado. Accordingly, the Court does not accept Plaintiff's allegations regarding Defendants having transacted business in Colorado.
. Because the Court determines that Plaintiff has not made its prima facie showing under step one {i.e., it cannot demonstrate that Defendants had sufficient minimum contacts with the forum state), the Court need not analyze the "fair play and substantial justice” factors involved in the second step.
. The Court need not discuss whether there was “general” personal jurisdiction because the Plaintiff has not alleged that Defendants had "continuous and systematic contacts” with Colorado sufficient to permit the Court to exercise such jurisdiction. See Beverly Kuenzle, Wayne Kuenzle v. HTM Sport-Und Freizeitgerate AG, 102 F.3d 453, 455-56 (10th Cir. 1996); see also Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1078-79 (discussing the distinction between general and specific personal jurisdiction). Defendants’ limited contacts with Colorado are, indeed, insufficient to confer general jurisdiction.
. As previously indicated, for the purposes of this Order, the Court accepts as true all wellpled facts in Plaintiff's complaint. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1070. Accordingly, the Court assumes, but does not decide, that the Defendants acted intentionally, and that they committed trademark infringement, because the Plaintiff has adequately alleged facts that could plausibly establish such liability. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Martin intended to copy and use "Floyd's 99’s Trade Dress with the intent of copying same and using Floyd’s 99’s Trade Dress to develop Defendants' barbershops and in so doing, confuse and deceive consumers”; that Defendants used the Photograph of Plaintiff's store in an advertisement for its own stores; and that Defendants' barbershops had a very similar interior design to that of Plaintiff’s Trade Dress. (Doc. # 1, ¶¶ 30-34; Doc. # 1-2; Doc. # 1-3; Doc. # 28, ¶¶ 6-10.)
. Plaintiff's Complaint and Brief in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss also state that Defendants "expressly aimed” conduct at the State of Colorado by taking the Photograph in Colorado "in order to misappropriate the Trade Dress and use it for Defendants' financial gain.” (Doc. # 1, ¶¶ 30-31; Doc. #28 at 10). This argument is discussed, and ultimately rejected, below.
. The Tenth Circuit has not yet decided whether "but-for” or “proximate” causation should be the standard guiding the “arising out of” inquiry. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1079; see also Employers Mut. Cas. Co. v. Bartile Roofs, Inc., 618 F.3d 1153, 1161 (10th Cir. 2010) ("Although we have rejected the substantial-connection approach outright, we have not expressly "pick[ed] sides” (i.e., exclusively made an election) between the proximate-cause and the but-for-causation approaches.”) Here, the Photograph would appear to satisfy “but-for” causation, as it was arguably an "event in the causal chain leading to the plaintiff’s injury.” Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1078. But whether it was a "proximate cause,” which is significantly more restrictive and "examine[s] whether any of the defendant's contacts with the forum are relevant to the merits of the plaintiff's claim,” id., is a closer question. In any event, because Plaintiff fails to adequately allege that the Photograph was “expressly aimed” at the forum, this issue is rendered nondispositive.
. Plaintiff does not cite, nor is the Court aware of, any cases showing that the taking of a photograph in a place of business constitutes a tort. “Although our Supreme Court has said that the term, 'tortious act,’ is to be liberally construed [under the long-arm statute] to carry out the intent of the legislature, it cannot be so liberally construed as to create a tort.” In re People in Interest of D.R.B., 30 Colo.App. 603, 606, 498 P.2d 1166 (1972). However, Plaintiff cites two cases in support of the proposition that taking the Photograph was a wrongful act that could subject Defendants to personal jurisdiction. First, Plaintiff points to Ultra-Images LLC v. Franclemont, No. 05-60538, 2007 WL 81832, at *5 (S.D.Fla. Jan. 8, 2007) (unpublished), but that case is distinguishable on two grounds: (1) it involved an already-existent, copyrighted photograph that was taken from the forum state and used without permission whereas, here, Martin was taking his own (obviously uncopyrighted) photograph; and (2) the defendant in Ultra-Images was essentially conducting business in the forum state: the court noted that "[d]efendants availed themselves of the privilege of conducting activities — purchasing photographs from a Florida photographer — within Florida. By hiring a Florida resident to buy photographs sold in Florida for [defendants' use, it is entirely reasonable to conclude that [defendants should have anticipated being haled into a Florida court.” Id. Defendants here conducted no such business activity.
Plaintiff also relies on Miller Yacht Sales, Inc., 384 F.3d at 97. While one of the contacts in that case is similar to Miller’s photograph here — the defendants in Miller Yacht took a plaintiff's brochure and floorplans out of the forum state and used them in one of their own advertisements — the Third Circuit emphasized that the defendant’s advertisements appeared "in boating magazines circulated in New Jersey and in at least one brochure that was sent directly to a potential customer in New Jersey. Intentionally and directly transmitting the misappropriated property that [ajppellees initially obtained in New Jersey back into New Jersey is a very strong contact between them and the State.” Id. By contrast, in this case there are no allegations that the advertisement using the Photograph was circulated in Colorado or sent to any customers in Colorado.
. Because the Court concludes that it lacks jurisdiction over this matter, it need not analyze whether the state of Colorado would represent a proper venue and, accordingly, denies that portion of Defendants’ motion as moot.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FLOYD'S 99 HOLDINGS, LLC v. JUDE'S BARBERSHOP, INC.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published