Nagravision SA v. Gotech Int'l Tech. Ltd.
Opinion
Nagravision SA ("Nagravision") filed suit against Zhuhai Gotech Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. and Gotech International Technology Ltd. (collectively, "Gotech") in the Southern District of Texas, alleging violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and the Federal *497 Communications Act ("FCA"). 1 Nagravision is a Swedish company, Gotech Chinese. Gotech knowingly chose to ignore the lawsuit and even the ensuing $100 million-plus default judgment. It did nothing at all until Nagravision took its judgment to a Hong Kong court, initiated enforcement proceedings, and succeeded in freezing Gotech's assets. Then Gotech decided to litigate in the Southern District of Texas after all, filing a motion under Rule 60(b) for relief from the default judgment. The district court denied that motion, and Gotech appeals. We affirm.
Gotech moved under Rule 60(b)(1) and Rule 60(b)(4), but only its arguments pertaining to the latter rule merit discussion.
2
Under Rule 60(b)(4), a judgment must be set aside if it is void.
Recreational Props., Inc. v. Sw. Mortg. Serv. Corp.
,
(1) Standing.
Gotech contends that Nagravision lacked standing to bring its claims, rendering the judgment void. Gotech is incorrect. Nagravision is a provider of security technology, including technology supporting subscription-based television providers, and this lawsuit is based on Gotech's sophisticated-but-illegal soft- and hardware that both steals Nagravision technology and defeats Nagravision security, allowing for piracy of pay-television programming. Under these circumstances, we have no doubt that Nagravision suffered an injury traceable to Gotech's misdeeds that can be (and indeed has been) redressed through the court.
See
Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc.
, --- U.S. ----,
(2) Federal Question Jurisdiction.
Nagravision based its lawsuit on violations of federal law, and subject matter jurisdiction is clearly present.
See, e.g.,
Gilbert v. Donahoe
,
(3) Personal Jurisdiction, Lack of Proper Service.
Defendants raise one argument pertaining to only one of them. Specifically, Gotech asserts that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over Zhuhai Gotech Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd for want of proper service. Rule 4 permits service on foreign defendants "by any internationally agreed means of service that is reasonably calculated to give notice, such as those authorized by the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents"
and
"by other means not prohibited by international agreement, as the court orders." FED. R. CIV. P. 4(f)(1), (3). Service here was court-ordered email service under Rule 4(f)(3), and Gotech has not shown that such service is prohibited by international agreement. Service was therefore proper. Overlooking Rule 4(f)(3) entirely, Gotech argues that the service did not comply with the Hague Convention and Rule 4(f)(1). This argument misses the mark because service was not effected pursuant to the Hague Convention, and that agreement does not displace Rule 4(f)(3).
See
United States v. Real Prop. Known As 200 Acres of Land Near FM 2686 Rio Grande City, Tex.
,
(4) Personal Jurisdiction, Rule 4(k)(2).
Nagravision asserted personal jurisdiction solely under Rule 4(k)(2), which "provides for service of process and personal jurisdiction in any district court for cases arising under federal law where the defendant has contacts with the United States as a whole sufficient to satisfy due process concerns and the defendant is not subject to jurisdiction in any particular state."
Adams v. Unione Mediterranea Di Sicurta
,
As an initial matter, the burden of proof to establish personal jurisdiction over the defendants rests upon the plaintiff.
Wilson v. Belin
,
*499 (noting the general rule that the plaintiff has the burden of proving jurisdiction but determining that the burden should be on the defendant to prove lack of jurisdiction in a Rule 60(b)(4) context).
In this case, we have a very specific question of who bears the burden of proof when a Rule 60(b)(4) challenge is made solely on the argument that the requirement of Rule 4(k)(2)(A) -that defendant is not subject to jurisdiction in any state's courts of general jurisdiction-is not met. Given our holding in
Adams
that plaintiffs do not have a general burden to negate jurisdiction in every state, the burden to establish that there was a state meeting the criteria necessarily must fall on the defendant.
Thus, Nagravision had the initial burden to plead and prove the requisite contacts with the United States and plead Rule 4(k)(2)'s applicability (though no need for "magic words"), but it had no burden to negate jurisdiction in every state. Between Nagravision's allegations, the evidence attached to its motion for default judgment, and our holding in
Adams
, there is no doubt that the district court correctly (if only impliedly) found that Nagravision had met its burden giving the district court the personal jurisdiction over Gotech necessary to render the default judgment.
See
Sys. Pipe & Supply, Inc. v. M/V VIKTOR KURNATOVSKIY
,
The burden then shifted to Gotech when it challenged the judgment to do more than just criticize Nagravision's complaint. Gotech had to affirmatively establish that the court lacked personal jurisdiction under 4(k)(2) because there was a state where its courts of general jurisdiction could properly exercise jurisdiction over it.
See
Adams
,
The judgment is AFFIRMED.
A third defendant, Globalsat International Technology Ltd. is not a party to the appeal.
Gotech's willful default precludes relief under Rule 60(b)(1).
See, e.g.,
In re Chinese Manufactured Drywall Prod. Liab. Litig.
,
We leave undecided the unbriefed question of whether the absence of prudential standing would render the judgment void.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- NAGRAVISION SA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. GOTECH INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LIMITED ; Zhuhai Gotech Intelligent Technology Company Limited, Defendants-Appellants
- Cited By
- 42 cases
- Status
- Published