Opinion ID: 1034091
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Purposeful Direction Elements

Text: As noted, purposeful direction in this suit has three requirements: (1) intentional action, (2) express aiming at the forum state, and (3) knowledge that the brunt of the injury would be felt in the forum state. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1072. We analyze each element in turn. The intentional action element requires little discussion. The record contains no suggestion that the individual defendants acted unintentionally when they took the steps that allegedly led to Mahalo USA’s failure. Accordingly, Newsome satisfies the intentional action requirement. The express aiming element requires Oklahoma to have been the “focal point” of the tort. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1074. As we noted in Dudnikov, two Ninth Circuit cases help to illustrate the contours of this element. In Bancroft & Masters, Inc. v. Augusta National Inc., 223 F.3d 1082 (9th Cir. 2000), overruled in part on other grounds in Yahoo! Inc. v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme Et L’Antisemitisme, 433 F.3d 1199 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc), the Georgia owner of The Masters golf tournament sent a letter to a Virginia domain name registrar, invoking the registrar’s procedures for disputing a California computer business’s entitlement to “masters.com.” The California business was then required to relinquish the domain name or obtain a declaratory judgment in its favor. The business chose the latter route, suing the Georgia entity in California. The Georgia entity challenged personal jurisdiction. Bancroft, 223 -18- F.3d at 1084–85. Although the Georgia entity’s letter “was formally sent to Virginia rather than California,” it satisfied the “express aiming” requirement because its “purpose was specifically to target a known California business.” Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1076 (citing Bancroft, 223 F.3d at 1087–88). By contrast, in Schwarzenegger v. Fred Martin Motor Co., 374 F.3d 797 (9th Cir. 2004), an Ohio car dealership used a photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger in its local advertisements without Schwarzenegger’s permission. Schwarzenegger sued the Ohio dealership in California, but the California court determined it lacked personal jurisdiction. Id. at 799–800. “While [the dealership] perhaps knew Mr. Schwarzenegger lived in California, this was insufficient to convey jurisdiction there because the intention[] behind [the dealership’s] advertisement was solely to entice local market Ohioans,” rather than influence Schwarzenegger in California. Dudnikov, 514 F.3d at 1076 (citing Schwarzenegger, 374 F.3d at 799) (emphasis in original). Dudnikov itself is also helpful. There, a Connecticut company communicated with eBay in California, attempting to cut short an eBay auction that allegedly infringed the Connecticut company’s copyright. The promoters of that auction—a Colorado couple—sued the Connecticut company for declaratory judgment in Colorado. Id. at 1068–69. The Connecticut company sought dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, arguing that the express aiming requirement was not satisfied because it did not know the plaintiffs operated from -19- Colorado. Id. at 1076. The plaintiffs’ allegations, however, established that their Colorado location was obvious from the eBay auction page. Id. This, we said in Dudnikov, was enough at the pleading phase to establish express aiming at Colorado. Id. at 1076–77. Here, the individual defendants do not contest that they knew Mahalo USA operated exclusively in Oklahoma, making Oklahoma the focal point of any tort against Mahalo USA they may have committed. Accordingly, Newsome has established that these defendants expressly aimed their actions at Oklahoma when they acted toward Mahalo USA. The final requirement is knowledge that the brunt of the injury would be felt in the forum state. We have already concluded Newsome established that the individual defendants knew Mahalo USA’s business operated in Oklahoma. At the pleading phase, then, it is a fair inference that the individual defendants knew that the brunt of any injury to Mahalo USA would be felt in Oklahoma. See id. at 1077 (“in satisfying [the] first two [elements of the ‘purposeful direction’ test], plaintiffs have established that defendants acted with more than foresight (or knowledge) that effects would be felt in [the forum]”). Newsome has therefore satisfied the three elements of the purposeful direction test as to the individual defendants. -20-