Opinion
21 Civ. 333 (PGG)
03-17-2022
ALLSTAR MARKETING GROUP, LLC, Plaintiff v. ALI DROPSHIPPING SUPPORT STORE, ALIEXPRESS GLOBAL DROPSHIPPING STORE, ALIHOME DESIGN STORE, ALINA LIVING STORE, BR SERVICE STORE, CAIDA STORE, COOCNICO OFFCIAL STORE, DONGGUAN AI CHENG TOYS CO., LTD., DROPSHIP-007 STORE, DROPSHIPPING HOUSE901 STORE, EFDKC OFFCIAL CAR ACCESSORIES STORE, EXQUISITE LIFE 365 STORE, FANTASY H-OME &LIFE STORE, FOUR SEASONS' SONG, GUANGZHOU HAPPY ISLAND TOYS CO., LTD., H &M LUB-AN STORE, HEQU FASHION, HUNAN HECHENG YUANMAI EQUIPMENT CO., LTD., JESSIC STORE, JIANDE JADE TEXTILES CO., LTD., JOYLIVE STORE, JOYLOVE STORE, LITTLE FOR BABY STORE, MARKETHUB STORE, MEIHUA COSMETICS HUIZHOU CO., LTD., MSCARTOON STORE, NINGBO SUNREAL ELECTRONIC CO., LTD., SHANGHAI GOT GIFT CO., LTD., SHANGHAI ZHEYI TRADING CO., LTD., SHENZHEN NEWSTAR ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., SHENZHEN TUOYI ELECTRONIC COMMERCE CO., LTD., SHOP4980079 STORE, SHOP5599062 STORE, SHOP910968013 STORE, SHOP910976005 STORE, SHOP911089025 STORE, SIND AX OFFICIAL STORE, SUERTE HAPPYNESS STORE, SWEETY &JUMPING GARDEN STORE, TOPSEXTOYS WORLD STORE, WARM LIGHTING LIFE STORE, YANGZHOU CREATIVE TOYS AND GIFTS CO., LTD., YANGZHOU HAITONG TEXTILE PRODUCTS CO., LTD., YANGZHOU HOME KA CRAFTS LTD., YIWU BINGGOU TOYS CO., LTD., YIWU JIALING IMPORT AND EXPORT CO., LTD., YIWU LENORA TRADING CO., LTD., YIWU ZHANGHUOQING E-COMMERCE FIRM, YOUR HAPPINESS IS OUR PRIORITY STORE, ZAKONA 2BIKINI STORE, ZXCXZ HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE STORE and ZY FOR DROP SHIPPING STORE, Defendants.
ORDER
PAUL G. GARDEPHE, U.S.D.J.:
On February 14, 2022, following a default judgment hearing, this Court entered an order of default against Defendants Coocnico Offcial Store, EFDKC Offcial Car Accessories Store, Four Seasons' Song, and Little For Baby Store and noted that Plaintiff had only established a basis for the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over these four defendants. (Dkt. No. 41) This Court directed Plaintiff to show cause by February 17, 2022, why its claims against the remaining forty-five Defendants (the “Remaining Defendants”) should not be dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction. (Id.)
On February 24, 2022, after the Court granted Plaintiff a one-week extension to make its filing, Plaintiff filed a letter regarding the issue of personal jurisdiction. (Feb. 24, 2022 (Dkt. No. 47)) In that letter, Plaintiff states that
[d]ue to Defaulting Defendants' failure to appear in this action, Plaintiff is unfortunately unable to establish whether each of the forty-five (45) remaining Defaulting Defendants have sold and shipped Counterfeit Products to consumers in New York. ... On February 18, 2022, Epstein Drangel completed a test purchase of a Counterfeit Product from Flappy Island and specified the New York Address as the shipping address, and shortly thereafter Happy Island issued an order confirmation to Epstein Drangel. Thus, Plaintiff can confirm that Happy Island sold and is in the process of shipping Counterfeit Products into New York. Accordingly, in addition to the Defaulting Defendants included in the Court's Order of Default, Plaintiff respectfully submits that this Court additionally has personal jurisdiction over Happy Island by virtue of its selling and shipping a Counterfeit Product to the New York Address.(Id.)
Because the proof regarding Happy Island involves conduct that occurred after the filing of the Complaint, the Court cannot consider this conduct in assessing personal jurisdiction. See Duravest, Inc, v. Viscardi, A.G., 581 F.Supp.2d 628, 639 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (noting that conduct that “occurred after the Complaint was filed [was] irrelevant to th[e personal jurisdiction] inquiry” (citing Darby v. Compagnie Nat, Air France, 735 F.Supp. 555, 560 (S.D.N.Y. 1990))).
Accordingly, the claims against the Remaining Defendants including Happy Island - are dismissed without prejudice. The Clerk of Court is directed not to close this case.
SO ORDERED.