Moonbug Entertainment Limited and El Bebe Productions Limited v. Store

Background

Plaintiffs brought claims for trademark infringement, trademark counterfeiting, and related state and common-law claims involving Little Baby Bum products. They alleged that the defendants manufactured, marketed, and sold counterfeit products to consumers in the United States through storefronts on Alibaba and/or AliExpress. The opinion states that the defendants were individuals and/or businesses located in China.

Judge Vernon S. Broderick previously granted a temporary restraining order authorizing alternative service and later granted a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs obtained certificates of default and applied for default judgment and a permanent injunction. The court then required supplemental briefing about whether service complied with the Hague Convention or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Service and Personal Jurisdiction

Before entering default judgment, a court may determine whether it has personal jurisdiction over the defendants. Service of the summons is a procedural requirement for exercising that authority. Rule 4(f)(3), which governs certain service methods for defendants outside the United States, requires the court to determine whether the ordered service method is prohibited by an international agreement and whether it satisfies constitutional due process.

The United States and China are parties to the Hague Convention. The court followed decisions concluding that electronic service on defendants in China is prohibited by that Convention when their physical addresses are known. The Convention does not apply when the person’s address is not known, but an address is considered unknown only when the plaintiff has used reasonable diligence to try to find a physical address and was unsuccessful.

Known Address Defendants

Plaintiffs’ supplemental declaration showed that they had obtained physical addresses for 17 defendants from their merchant storefronts and confirmed those addresses through internet searches. A courier successfully delivered materials to those addresses. The court therefore found that the addresses were known to plaintiffs with reasonable diligence, so the Hague Convention applied. It held that service under Rule 4(f) was not proper and that it lacked personal jurisdiction over those 17 defendants, identified in the opinion as the Known Address Defendants:

- Baby Tee Store - background Store - DESIGNER FABRIC Store - FeiFei Fabric Store - GENOVO Store 2 Store - GENOVO Store1898 Store - INNITREE Store - Junglet party Store - Kawaii kids Store - Party Background Decoration Store - Photurt Professional Backdrop Store - seamlessbackdrop Store - Shop1100077035 Store - Shop3407008 Store - Supery Party Store - woollen blanket No. 2 Store - yayeStudio Store

The court declined to enter default judgment with respect to these defendants.

Other Defendants and Next Steps

For the remaining 10 defendants—Boutique trend No. 2 Store, Cozy Party Store, GFdesign backdrop Store, GFUITRR Design Backdrop Store, LBING888 Store, Make Mug Store, sensfun backdrop Store, Woncol professional background Store, Yiwu Toystocker Toys Co., Ltd., and YooBaby Store—the courier reported that mail sent to the listed addresses was undeliverable. The court found that plaintiffs had exercised reasonable diligence but had not successfully obtained usable physical addresses. Because the addresses were not known under the Hague Convention, the court found alternative service under Rule 4(f) appropriate for these defendants.

The court scheduled a hearing on plaintiffs’ pending default-judgment application for November 24, 2025, and set November 10, 2025, as the deadline for any opposition. The court directed plaintiffs to serve the 10 defendants with the order within one business day, permitted electronic service under the previously established procedures, and required plaintiffs to file proof of service within two business days. The opinion does not state that the court entered default judgment against any defendant in this order.