Koeller v. Nixplay, Inc.

Background

Creedon Technologies USA, LLC and Nixplay, Inc. removed the case from the Superior Court of California for Santa Clara County, asserting federal diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1 requires parties in cases based on diversity jurisdiction to disclose every individual or entity whose citizenship is attributed to the party.

Citizenship disclosures

The defendants had filed a disclosure identifying Creedon Technologies USA, LLC’s parent corporation and other corporations owning that parent. The court explained that a limited liability company is a citizen of every state of which its owners or members are citizens, including the citizenship of members and sub-members when those entities have multiple members. The court stated that the defendants appeared not to have identified all of Creedon Technologies USA, LLC’s members and their citizenship.

The defendants asserted that Nixplay, Inc. is incorporated in Delaware but had not identified the corporation’s principal place of business. Under the diversity-jurisdiction statute, a corporation is a citizen of its state of incorporation and the state where it has its principal place of business.

The plaintiffs had identified the states of citizenship of the named plaintiffs in their original and amended complaints, but had not filed separate Rule 7.1 statements.

Order

The court directed all parties to file statements identifying the citizenship attributed to each party as of the date the action was filed in state court and as of the date of removal. The defendants’ statement must identify each member and sub-member of Creedon Technologies USA, LLC and each member’s or sub-member’s citizenship, and must identify Nixplay, Inc.’s principal place of business. Each party’s response was due by September 19, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. The order did not resolve the merits of the parties’ claims.