MG Freesites Ltd v. DISH Technologies L.L.C.

Background

MG Freesites Ltd filed a declaratory-judgment action concerning whether Pornhub.com infringed three patents owned by DISH Technologies L.L.C. and exclusively licensed to Sling TV L.L.C. The opinion later identifies MG Freesites Ltd as Aylo Freesites Ltd and says that Aylo Premium Ltd and Aylo Billing Ltd were added as plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ amended complaint addressed additional websites and patents involved in a later patent-infringement action that DISH and Sling filed in the District of Utah.

DISH and Sling are incorporated and have their principal places of business in Colorado. The plaintiffs argued that California had personal jurisdiction over them based on their California advertising and retail activity, a prior patent-enforcement lawsuit in this district against Jadoo TV, the hiring of California attorneys, and other patent lawsuits involving companies that sold products to California residents.

Personal Jurisdiction

Personal jurisdiction is a court’s power to exercise authority over a defendant. The court considered both general jurisdiction, which can permit claims unrelated to the defendant’s forum conduct, and specific jurisdiction, which requires a connection between the defendant’s forum conduct and the dispute.

The court held that California lacked general jurisdiction over DISH and Sling. Neither company was incorporated or headquartered in California, and the alleged California business activity did not show that either company was essentially “at home” in the state.

The court also held that California lacked specific jurisdiction. In a patent non-infringement declaratory-judgment case, the relevant contacts must relate materially to enforcing or defending the patent. The court found that the prior Jadoo lawsuit was not sufficiently related because only limited patent claims overlapped, Jadoo was unrelated to the parties in this case, and the accused technology and operative facts differed. The court also reasoned that DISH and Sling had not voluntarily chosen California as the forum for the Jadoo lawsuit because Jadoo could be sued there only in that forum. Hiring California attorneys, without additional substantial patent-enforcement activity, was insufficient. Lawsuits against companies outside California that sold products to California residents also did not establish sufficient contacts with California.

Jurisdictional Discovery

The plaintiffs requested discovery concerning the defendants’ California sales, advertising, and commercial activity. The court denied that request because the plaintiffs did not identify specific discovery or provide a factual basis suggesting that discovery would establish personal jurisdiction.

Other Motions and Disposition

Because the court lacked personal jurisdiction and dismissed the action, it treated the plaintiffs’ motion to enjoin the later-filed Utah action and motion to amend the case caption as moot. The court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) and denied the plaintiffs’ motions to enjoin and amend the case caption as moot.