Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_10-cv-02631/USCOURTS-casd-3_10-cv-02631-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 840
Nature of Suit: Trademark
Cause of Action: 15:1114 Trademark Infringement

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

NUBONAU, INC., etc.,

Plaintiff,

CASE NO. 10cv2631-LAB (BGS)

ORDER RE: JURISDICTIONAL

vs. DISCOVERY

NB LABS, LTD, etc., et al.,

Defendants.

This is a trademark infringement case. The Plaintiff, NuboNau, is a San Diego-based

retailer that sells organic skin care products. Defendant NB Labs is in the same business

and behind the product brand NUBO. Defendants Cult Beauty Limited and Dotcom Retail

are, allegedly, online retailers of NUBO products. 

The Defendants are all United Kingdom companies, and each has filed a motion to

dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. NB Labs argues that it sells all of its products abroad

and has no contacts with California or the broader United States. (Dkt. No. 11-1.) Cult

Beauty argues that its website isn’t directed to the United States in any way, and that it has

made only de minimum sales in California. (Dkt. No. 12-1.) Dotcom Retail’s argument is a

little different. It maintains that it merely owns the domain name BeautyBay.com, which it

licenses to a legally separate company. (Dkt. No. 8-1.)

//

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After the Defendants filed their motions to dismiss, NuboNau filed an ex parte motion

seeking limited discovery relating to the Defendants’ jurisdictional arguments. NuboNau

claims it “has evidence that jurisdiction does exist in this matter, but requires further

discovery in order to demonstrate the extent of marketing and sales of infringing NUBO

products in California and the United States by Defendants.” (Dkt. No. 18-1 at 1.) The Court

stayed the motions to dismiss to consider the ex parte motion, which all Defendants oppose.

I. Jurisdictional Standards

In considering whether NuboNau is entitled to jurisdictional discovery, it is useful to

keep the relevant jurisdictional standards in mind. Personal jurisdiction over a defendant is

proper if it complies with a state’s long-arm statute and constitutional due process standards.

Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. v. Nat’l Bank of Cooperatives, 103 F.3d 888, 893 (9th Cir. 1996).

California’s long-arm statute is co-extensive with constitutional standards, however, so it is

only the latter that matter here. See Boschetto, 539 F.3d at 1015. “For a court to exercise

personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, that defendant must have at least

‘minimum contacts’ with the relevant forum such that the exercise of jurisdiction ‘does not

offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.’” Schwarzenegger v. Fred Martin

Motor Co., 374 F.3d 797, 801 (9th Cir. 2004) (quoting Int’l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S.

310, 316 (1945)).

Personal jurisdiction may be either specific or general. Specific personal jurisdiction

arises when 

(1) the defendant has performed some act or consummated

some transaction within the forum or otherwise purposefully

availed himself of the privileges of conducting activities in the

forum, (2) the claim arises out of or results from the defendant’s

forum-related activities, and (3) the exercise of jurisdiction is

reasonable.

Bancroft & Masters, Inc. v. Augusta Nat’l Inc., 223 F.3d 1082, 1086 (9th Cir. 2002). General

personal jurisdiction, on the other hand, arises when a defendant engages in “continuous and

systematic general business contacts that approximate physical presence in the forum state.”

CollegeSource, Inc. v. AcademyOne, Inc., 653 F.3d 1066, 1074 (9th Cir. 2011) (internal

quotations and citations omitted). “The standard is met only by ‘continuous corporate

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operations within a state [that are] thought so substantial and of such a nature as to justify

suit against [the defendant] on causes of action arising from dealings entirely distinct from

those activities.’” King v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co., 632 F.3d 570, 579 (9th Cir. 2011) (quoting

Int’l Shoe, 326 U.S. at 318)). The standard for general jurisdiction “is an exacting standard,

as it should be, because a finding of general jurisdiction permits a defendant to be haled into

court in the forum state to answer for any of its activities anywhere in the world.”

Schwarzenneger, 374 F.3d at 801. NuboNau mentions both specific and general personal

jurisdiction in its motion for jurisdictional discovery, but it is hard to see how general personal

jurisdiction could ever be established here. (See Dkt. No. 18-1 at 5.) The Defendants are all

based in the United Kingdom, and there is no indication whatsoever that their operations in

California or any other state, if any, are so continuous and substantial that they can be said

to be physically present there. If this Court can exercise personal jurisdiction over the

Defendants, then, it will only be because NuboNau’s claims truly arise out of Defendants’

conduct in California. 

Wholly apart from the above, jurisdiction may also arise under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(2),

which is commonly known as the federal long-arm statute. Rule 4(k)(2) “permits federal

courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant that lacks contacts with any single

state if the complaint alleges federal claims and the defendant maintains sufficient contacts

with the United States as a whole.” Getz v. Boeing, 654 F.3d 852, 858 (9th Cir. 2011). For

jurisdiction to arise under the Rule, the claim against the defendant must arise under federal

law, the defendant must not be subject to the personal jurisdiction of any state court of

general jurisdiction, and the federal court’s exercise of jurisdiction must comport with due

process. Holland America Line Inc. v. Wartsila North America, 485 F.3d 450, 461 (9th Cir.

2007). The Rule, in essence, applies to “foreign defendants lacking sufficient contacts with

any single state [who] could . . .avoid responsibility for civil violations of our federal laws.”

Getz, 654 F.3d at 859.

To defeat jurisdiction under Rule 4(k)(2), a defendant “has only to name some other

state in which the suit could proceed. If, however, the defendant contends that he cannot

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be sued in the forum state and refuses to identify any other where suit is possible, then the

federal court is entitled to use Rule 4(k)(2).” ISI Int’l, Inc. v. Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, 256

F.3d 548, 552 (7th Cir. 2001). If a defendant’s contacts with the United States are only

marginally more significant than their contacts with a given state, there is no jurisdiction

under Rule 4(k)(2). Holland America, 485 F.3d at 461. The Rule is implicated in this case

because NuboNau argues that if Defendants’ contacts with California are insufficient to

support personal jurisdiction, “NuboNau would be entitled to take jurisdictional discovery on

Defendants’ national contacts so that Defendants’ violations of NuboNau’s United States

trademark rights do not escape enforcement under federal laws.” (Dkt. No. 18-1 at 6.) 

II. Jurisdictional Discovery Standards

Now to the matter at hand. Jurisdictional discovery “may be appropriately granted

where pertinent facts bearing on the question of jurisdiction are controverted or where a more

satisfactory showing of the facts is necessary.” Data Disc, Inc. v. Systems Tech. Assoc.,

Inc., 557 F.2d 1280, 1285 n.1 (9th Cir. 1997). The mere hunch that discovery “might yield

jurisdictionally relevant facts” is insufficient, however. Boschetto v. Hansing, 539 F.3d 1011,

1020 (9th Cir. 2008). Likewise, a court needn’t permit jurisdictional discovery “where a

plaintiff’s claim of personal jurisdiction appears to be both attenuated and based on bare

allegations in the face of specific denials made by the defendants.” Terracom v. Valley Nat.

Bank, 49 F.3d 555, 562 (9th Cir. 1995) (citing Rich v. KIS Cal., Inc., 121 F.R.D. 254, 259

(M.D.N.C. 1988)). A court is justified in denying jurisdictional discovery “when it is clear that

further discovery would not demonstrate facts sufficient to constitute a basis for jurisdiction.”

Wells Fargo & Co. v. Wells Fargo Express Co., 556 F.2d 406, 430 n.24 (9th Cir. 1977). 

A plaintiff who seeks jurisdictional discovery needn’t first make a prima facie showing

that jurisdiction actually exists. Such a showing is necessary to survive a motion to dismiss,

and “[i]t would . . . be counterintuitive to require a plaintiff, prior to conducting discovery, to

meet the same burden that would be required in order to defeat a motion to dismiss.” Orchid

Biosciences, Inc. v. St. Louis Univ., 198 F.R.D. 670, 673 (S.D. Cal. 2001); see also Mentor

Graphics Corp. v. EVE-USA, Inc., Case No. 10-CV-954, 2010 WL 5173560 at *2 (D. Or. Dec.

Case 3:10-cv-02631-LAB-BGS Document 24 Filed 10/31/11 Page 4 of 11
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15, 2010) (adopting reasoning of Orchid Biosciences). At the same time, the plaintiff must

make at least a colorable showing that personal jurisdiction exists. Mitan v. Feeney, 497

F.Supp.2d 1113, 1119 (C.D. Cal. 2007). “This ‘colorable’ showing should be understood as

something less than a prima facie showing and could be equated as requiring the plaintiff to

come forward with ‘some evidence’ tending to establish personal jurisdiction over the

defendant.” Id.; see also Martinez v. Manheim Central California, Case No. 10-CV-1511,

2011 U.S. Dist. Lexis 41666 at *10 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 18, 2011) (noting that “district courts in this

circuit have required a plaintiff to establish a ‘colorable basis’ for personal jurisdiction before

discovery is ordered”). 

A court’s denial of a plaintiff’s request for jurisdictional discovery “will not be reversed

except on the clearest showing that denial of discovery results in actual and substantial

prejudice to the complaining litigant.” Data Disc, 557 F.2d at 1285 n.1. 

III. Jurisdictional Bases

In light of the above standards, the merits of NuboNau’s request for jurisdictional

discovery depends heavily on the information it has, now, to support this Court’s exercise of

personal jurisdiction over the Defendants. The more information it has, the more plausible

personal jurisdiction is, and the more legitimate the request for limited, jurisdictional

discovery will be. The less information NuboNau has, however, the more the request looks

like a simple fishing expedition. 

As of May 2011, NuboNau contends that NUBO products were available for online

purchase at www.amazon.com and www.myskin.com, with no indication that they could only

be shipped to locations outside the United States. (Dkt. Nos. 18-9, 18-10.) NB Labs claims

NUBO products are only available on Amazon through a UK retailer’s “storefront.” The Court

actually can’t tell who is right — although its own search for NUBO products in Amazon’s

“Health and Personal Care” department turns up only two products, both under the Klaire

Labs brand. In any event, NuboNau does not allege that these online retailers actually

shipped NUBO products to buyers in the United States.

//

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NuboNau also contends that NB Labs hired a public relations firm in the United States,

Pierce Mattie, to promote NUBO products. (Dkt. No. 18-11.) NB Labs flatly denies the

connection: “NB Labs has no relationship with Pierce Mattie PR or any PR companies based

in the United States. NB Labs has never hired any US-based PR firm.” (Dkt. No. 20-1 ¶ 11.)

The Court takes NB Labs’ word on this. The Pierce Mattie Facebook page submitted by

NuboNau contains a post about a “Nubo Beauty” skin care line, but this is no sure sign that

NB Labs actually retained Pierce Mattie to promote its NUBO products.

In July 2010 NB Labs attended a beauty industry trade show in Las Vegas,

Cosmoprof, where it rented a booth and promoted NUBO products. (Dkt. Nos. 18-13, 18-14,

18-15.) NuboNau takes this to be potential evidence that NB Labs was selling or trying to

sell NUBO products in the United States. On the other hand, Cosmoprof was a business-tobusiness trade show, closed to members of the public, at which retails sales were prohibited.

(Dkt. No. 20-1 ¶ 5.) It also had a global scope; the conference billed itself as “the ideal

platform for high-quality business-to-business activities for beauty companies from the entire

Americas and the world beyond.” (Dkt. No. 18-14.)

 NuboNau accuses NB Labs of trying to “expand its presence in North America” by

distributing its products through the high-end retailers Henri Bendel and The Plaza Hotel.

(Dkt. No. 18-16, 18-17, 18-18, 18-19.) After receiving cease-and-desist letters, Henri Bendel

responded by letter that it “never placed an order with NB Labs and . . . was advised by NB

Labs prior to your letter that there was a trademark issue that required resolution prior to

moving forward.” (Dkt. No. 18-19.) The Plaza Hotel responded that it would “not go forward

with the distribution of any products that are the subject of the potential infringement.” (Dkt.

No. 18-18.) The record is unclear as to whether The Plaza Hotel even placed an order for

NUBO products with NB Labs. And NB Labs maintains that its contacts with these retailers

were prior to its knowledge of NuboNau’s trademark, and halted when it became acquired

that knowledge. 

Finally, in November and December of 2010, NuboNau commissioned an investigator

to attempt purchases of NUBO products in the United States from several online retailers,

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all based in the United Kingdom: (1) www.lookfantastic.com; (2) www.lookmantastic.com; (3)

www.beautybay.com, which is tangentially related to Defendant Dotcom Retail; and (4) and

Defendant www.cultbeauty.co.uk. (See Dkt. No. 18-5.) The November purchases were all

successful, but the December purchase from BeautyBay was not. (Id.) The investigator also

placed a successful phone order with United Kingdom-based Harrod’s in November, and an

unsuccessful order in December. (Id.) NuboNau also tries to make something of the fact

that these products, or other NUBO products, are manufactured in the United States,

although that is of minimal jurisdictional significance in a trademark infringement case. 

IV. Discussion

One problem with NuboNau’s request for jurisdictional discovery is that it lumps all of

the Defendants together, even though the arguments for jurisdictional discovery as to each

Defendant are not equally strong. The Court will address each individually.

A. Dotcom Retail

While Dotcom Retail’s argument for dismissal is that it has no legal responsibility for

the BeautyBay website, it appears willing to stand in the place of BeautyBay for the purpose

of NuboNau’s request for jurisdictional discovery. 

NuboNau’s only basis for seeking jurisdictional discovery from Dotcom Retail is the

fact that its investigator bought two NUBO product from the BeautyBay website and had one

successfully shipped to her California office. By itself, this kind of orchestrated purchase

cannot give rise to personal jurisdiction over Dotcom Retail in California. Millennium Enters.,

Inc. v. Millennium Music, LP, 33 F.Supp.2d 907, 911 (D. Or. 1999). There can’t be personal

jurisdiction in a forum without purposeful availment of that forum, and the purposeful

availment requirement “ensures that a defendant will not be haled into a jurisdiction solely

as a result . . . of the unilateral activity of another party or third person.” Burger King Corp.

v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 475 (1985). The question, then, is whether the investigatorinitiated sales give rise to more than a hunch that the requested discovery will “yield

jurisdictionally relevant facts.” Boschetto, 539 F.3d at 1020. 

//

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Yes, but barely. On the basis of two sales to a California buyer, only one of which was

actually delivered, NuboNau is simply not entitled to the expansive discovery it seeks: one

30(b)(6) deposition, thirteen requests for documents, and eight interrogatories on the subject

of Dotcom Retail’s contacts in California and throughout the United States. Without any

evidence that Dotcom Retail has sold NUBO products outside of California in the United

States, NuboNau has made no colorable showing that jurisdiction arises here pursuant to

Rule 4(k)(2). It is therefore not entitled to discovery on Dotcom Retail’s contacts in the

broader United States. Dotcom Retail does concede that it made sales outside of California.

(Dkt. No. 19 at 2; Dkt. No. 8-2.) But the number of such sales — three — is only marginally

more significant than its California sales, and thus could not support a finding of national

jurisdiction where there is no personal jurisdiction. Holland America, 485 F.3d at 461.

Moreover, in correspondences with counsel for Dotcom Retail, counsel for NuboNau

suggests that jurisdictional discovery of Dotcom Retail’s contacts throughout the United

States is necessary for “a determination of the best venue in the United States for this

lawsuit.” This is not a valid basis for the nation-wide discovery NuboNau seeks, nor is the

fact that Dotcom Retail invoked Rule 4(k)(2) in its motion to dismiss. The fact is that

NuboNau makes no showing whatsoever that jurisdiction is appropriate here under Rule

4(k)(2), and seeks relevant discovery only on the “bare allegation,” in the face of denials by

Dotcom Retail, that such jurisdiction exists. Terracom, 49 F.3d at 562. 

Finally, the Court notes that, in an email correspondence with counsel for NB Labs

and Cult Beauty after the motions to dismiss were filed, counsel for NuboNau originally

requested information “specifically related to your client’s connections to California, including

any efforts to market or sell its products to consumers in California.” No request was made

for nationwide discovery, even though NuboNau was aware at the time that Defendants were

arguing against federal jurisdiction under Rule 4(k)(2). Jurisdictional discovery is warranted

when “pertinent facts bearing on the question of jurisdiction are controverted . . . .” Data

Disc, 557 F.2d at 1285 n.1 (emphasis added). It’s not warranted when a plaintiff has no

facts to support jurisdiction and is simply in search of some. 

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In a June 7, 2011 letter to counsel for NuboNau, counsel for Dotcom Retail offered “to

provide written responses to the proposed written interrogatories and document requests to

the extent they request information regarding contacts with California.” (Dkt. No. 18-3.)

Counsel objected, however, to producing a deposition witness, and objected also to the

interrogatories and document requests “to the extent they broadly ask about contacts of the

Defendants with the United States.” (Id.) Dotcom Retail’s position is reasonable in light of

the thin colorable showing of personal jurisdiction NuboNau has made. NuboNau’s motion

for jurisdictional discovery from Dotcom Retail is therefore GRANTED IN PART AND

DENIED IN PART. Dotcom Retail shall respond to NuboNau’s thirteen document requests

and eight interrogatories to the extent they request information regarding contacts with

California.

B. Cult Beauty

A similar analysis applies to NuboNau’s request for discovery from Cult Beauty. Other

than the two NUBO purchases made by NuboNau’s California-basedinvestigator, NuboNau

has no evidence that Cult Beauty sold products in California, or elsewhere in the United

States. (Dkt. No. 18-5.) That entitles NuboNau only to the limited discovery that Cult Beauty

has already offered to provide: responses to its document requests and interrogatories with

all responses limited to Cult Beauty’s contacts in California. NuboNau’s request for

jurisdictional discovery from Cult Beauty is therefore GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN

PART.

C. NB Labs

NuboNau is certainly entitled to as much discovery from NB Labs as it is from the

other Defendants. That means NB Labs, as it offered, should respond to NuboNau’s

document requests and interrogatories, with all responses limited to California. The Court

does not find that a 30(b)(6) deposition is warranted, considering the additional costs that

would impose and the minimal additional information it is likely to yield.

The remaining question is whether the additional facts alleged against NB Labs

constitute “some evidence” to establish federal personal jurisdiction such that NuboNau is

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entitled to nationwide information in NB Labs’ document production and interrogatory

answers. See Mitan, 497 F.Supp.2d at 1119. There’s no doubt that NuboNau overstates

the evidence of national contacts it does have. NB Labs explicitly disavows any relationship

with the public relations firm Pierce Mattie, and in a trademark infringement case like this one

the mere fact that some of Defendants’ products are manufactured in the United States is

insignificant. At the same time, the availability of NUBO products on www.amazon.com and

www.myskin.com, NB Labs’ participation in a Las Vegas trade show in which it promoted

NUBO products in an American market, and NB Labs’ efforts to sell NUBO products in Henri

Bendel and The Plaza Hotel are evidence of national contacts that go beyond NB Labs’

contacts with California. The Court well understands NB Labs’ explanations as to each of

these — the items were offered on Amazon through a UK-based seller, the trade show was

a business-to-business affair and did not involve retail sales, and its outreach to Henri Bendel

and The Plaza Hotel preceded its knowledge of NuboNau’s trademark — but these go more

to the final jurisdictional analysis than the question whether NuboNau is entitled to some

nationwide discovery. While NuboNau’s claim of federal personal jurisdiction is weak, the

Court does not find it to be so “bare” that its request for limited, nationwide discovery should

be denied. See Terracom, 49 F.3d at 562. NB Labs surely has more substantial contacts

with the United States than Dotcom Retail or Cult Beauty, and accordingly, it can go to the

extra trouble of incorporating national information in its document production and answers

to NuboNau’s interrogatories.

V. Conclusion

All Defendants, as they originally offered, must respond to NuboNau’s document

requests and interrogatories insofar as they seek information about contacts with California.

NB Labs must also provide information about contacts with the broader United States.

NuboNau is not entitled to a 30(b)(6) deposition of any Defendant. 

Defendants should produce all relevant discovery within 30 days of the date this Order

is entered. Two weeks from that date, NuboNau must file an opposition — in a single

pleading — to Defendants’ motions to dismiss. Defendants will then have one week to file

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a reply. The Court will not set a new hearing date on the motions to dismiss because it is

confident they can be resolved on the papers alone. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: October 31, 2011

HONORABLE LARRY ALAN BURNS

United States District Judge

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