Opinion ID: 173577
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: J&J's Relationship with BabyCenter

Text: BabyCenter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of J&J that operates as an online media company. BabyCenter hosts a variety of websites in the United States and abroad that focus on pregnancy and early childhood development. Until January 2009, BabyCenter also hosted an online retail store offering baby-care and related products. BabyCenter relies on J&J for a variety of business services, including accounting, audit, cash management, employee benefits, finance, human resources, information technology, insurance, payroll, and travel services and systems. It also substantially relies on J&J's legal department either to provide legal services or to secure outside counsel. Stuart Wilks, a member of the J&J legal department, serves as Board Attorney to BabyCenter. J&J's legal department participated in the negotiation of the E-Commerce Agreement between BabyCenter and GSI. J&J lawyers have also been involved from the beginning in the dispute between BabyCenter and GSI. Indeed, J&J's legal department has dealt directly with Blank Rome in attempting to resolve the present dispute. Finally, it appears that J&J exercises some management control over BabyCenter's business decisions, although the extent of this control is not clear from the record. BabyCenter is a limited liability company. Its sole member is BC Acquisition group, which is itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of J&J. J&J structures affiliates into groups of companies. BabyCenter belongs to the Consumer Healthcare Group and its operations are supervised by the Consumer Healthcare Group Operating Committee, which is composed mainly of J&J employees.