Shen Zhen You Yu Ku Ke Ji You Xian Gong Si v. Jiangsu Huari Webbing Leather Co.

Background

Plaintiff Shen Zhen You Yu Ku Ke Ji You Xian Gong Si moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3) for permission to serve Defendant Jiangsu Huari Webbing Leather Co., Ltd. by email. The opinion describes Jiangsu as allegedly a resident of China.

Legal standard

Rule 4(f) provides methods for serving an individual or entity outside the United States. Rule 4(f)(3) permits service by means that are not prohibited by an international agreement. The United States and China are parties to the Hague Convention on service of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil and commercial matters. The court explained that the Hague Convention generally prohibits service by email on litigants in China.

The court also explained that the Hague Convention does not apply when the address of the person or entity to be served is not known. An address is considered unknown when the plaintiff has exercised reasonable diligence—that is, made reasonable efforts—to find a physical address but was unsuccessful.

Discussion

The court held that service had to comply with the Hague Convention because Plaintiff had not shown that it made the necessary effort to find Defendant’s physical address. Plaintiff stated only that it was trying to find other email addresses for Defendant and did not identify any effort to locate a physical address. The court concluded that this was not reasonable diligence.

Disposition

Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke DENIED Plaintiff’s motion, with leave to renew upon a showing that Plaintiff has exercised reasonable diligence in searching for Defendant’s physical address. The clerk was directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 8. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims between the parties.