Opinion ID: 1655690
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Nature and Quality of the Contacts

Text: The appellant argues that because this bat weight was found on a field and there is no way of discovering how the weight came to this state, On-Deck's contacts with Minnesota are not of a quality sufficient to support jurisdiction. This argument ignores the fact that often there is no way that a plaintiff can know how a defective product actually weaved its way through commerce's labyrinth. The fact that the manufacturer's goods came to the jurisdiction by an unknown and thereby a possibly circuitous route does not change the fact that the product injured someone in a jurisdiction where the manufacturer can expect to be sued. In Gray v. American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corp., 22 Ill.2d 432, 176 N.E.2d 761 (1961), the Illinois Supreme Court not only did not know how the particular offending product got to the state, it had no idea if any of the manufacturer's other products had ever been in the state. Id. at 442, 176 N.E.2d at 766. Rather, the Illinois court inferred sufficient number and quality of contacts as a reasonable assumption from the character of the business. Id. The United States Supreme Court found no difficulties with the Illinois court's analysis. World-Wide Volkswagen, 444 U.S. at 298, 100 S.Ct. at 567. Thus, the plaintiffs' inability to trace the bat weight's route to Minnesota in no way deprives Minnesota of jurisdiction. The nature of On-Deck's contacts have been, for the most part, sales. It has profited by sale of thousands of its bat weights in Minnesota. In a commercial operation, sales are the most tangible contact with a jurisdiction. Although through intermediaries, these sales were accomplished under the marketing contracts for the benefit of On-Deck. Additionally, there was marketing on On-Deck's part. It specifically required that its trademark be placed prominently on the packages of its product. Elston Howard, the president of the company, was pictured on every package. It can be assumed that its distributors also marketed the product in this state. On-Deck thrust its corporate image into the jurisdiction, both by its own packaging requirements and the actions of its distributors, and profited by it. The nature and quality of On-Deck's contacts weigh in favor of jurisdiction.