IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT—S.D.N.Y.: E-commerce copyright infringement claims proceed against foreign competitor, (Oct 3, 2025)

By Steven D. Cole, J.D.

The e-commerce company sufficiently pleaded personal jurisdiction over a Singapore-based competitor and adequately alleged a prima facie case for copyright infringement of its HTML code.

A case brought by e-commerce service platform Shopify Inc. (Shopify), asserting that the Singapore-based Shopline Technology Holdings Pte. Ltd. (Shopline) copied its copyrighted HTML code and used it to create a “theme” for its own website, survived motions to dismiss, held the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Shopify established that the court had personal jurisdiction over the foreign company based on its business transactions with at least one customer in the state. Shopify also provide a sample line-by-line comparison of markup language from the two website themes, which sufficiently evinced its allegation of copyright infringement (Shopify Inc. v. Shopline Technology Holdings Pte. Ltd., No. 1:24-cv-03691-ALC-GS (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2025)).

Background. Shopify is Canada-based e-commerce service company that enables businesses to design and operate online stores, providing backend support for inventory management, payments, and shipping, among other things. Central to Shopify’s success, its complaint alleges, is “Dawn,” a computer program that powers a customizable storefront template which enables Shopify merchants “to quickly launch a compelling online presence or to design their own unique store.” Shopify first published this “theme” in 2021, subsequently publishing seventh and eleventh versions in 2022 and 2024. Shopify registered the HTML code for all three versions with the United States Copyright Office in April 2024.

Shopline is a competing e-commerce platform based in Singapore. It provides similar services, utilizing a software named “Seed.” According to Shopify, Shopline copied the Dawn program, translated it into another programming language, made cosmetic changes, and distributed it as Seed.

Shopify’s complaint, filed May 14, 2024, alleges actions for direct and contributory copyright infringement and seeks damages, attorney fees, and injunctive relief. It names both Shopline and its purported agent, Shopline US, Inc. (Shopline US), a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New York, as defendants. Shopify also named as a defendant Sinoxpress Inc., a New York corporation doing business as Fosterry.com (Fosterry). On October 1, 2024, Shopline filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, and Shopline US moved to dismiss the suit for failure to state a claim.

Personal jurisdiction. Federal district courts in New York have held that a website which allows customers to purchase goods online can provide a basis for personal jurisdiction. See N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a) (“a court may exercise personal jurisdiction over any non-domiciliary … who in person or through an agent … transacts any business within the state”). Shopify sufficiently established that Shopline provided its online services to Fosterry so as to establish the court’s personal jurisdiction over this matter. The allegations demonstrated “an articulable nexus between the copyright infringement claims and this transaction, since Shopify alleges the product provided to Fosterry contained the copyrighted material.” (Shopify expressly noted that it did not seek to impute jurisdiction from Shopline US to Shopline).

Shopline argued that Shopify’s “group pleading”—referring to both Shopify and Shopify US as a single entity—rendered the complaint deficient in establishing personal jurisdiction. The court was unpersuaded, interpreting the complaint as asserting that each entity engaged in the copying and distribution of the copyrighted HTML code.

Shopline also contended that it had no operation over, or role in, Shopline US’s web services. Shopify convincingly countered by showing that at the time Fosterry was provided with the Seed design, Shopline US was not yet in existence.

Copyright infringement. Shopify met its burden of stating its copyright infringement claims, alleging that Shopline made an unauthorized copy of Dawn and incorporated largely cosmetic changes to develop Seed. Shopify supported this claim by providing a line-by-line comparison of markup language from the two website themes which, although not identical, portrayed largely the same elements and values. (Markup code establishes the format and layout of text and graphics when a user views a website by instructing the user’s browser to present material in a specified manner).

Shopline contended that Shopify was required to plead every portion of its code that was allegedly copied, and that by providing only six lines of such code as evidence of infringement was de minimis. The court disagreed, finding that it would be “unnecessary and impracticable” to require Shopify provide in its pleading a line-by-line comparison for the entire HTML code, which consisted of 138,451 lines.

Shopline also argued that the alleged infringing code may have predated Shopify’s copyright. But for the purposes of the dismissal motion, it was sufficient for Shopify to allege that the first (and seventh) versions of Dawn were registered in advance of Seed’s creation.

Therefore, the court denied Shopline’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and denied Shopline US’s concomitant motion for failure to state a claim.

The Case is No. 1:24-cv-03691-ALC-GS.

Judge: Carter, Jr., A.

Attorneys: David H. Kramer (Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati) for Shopify Inc. Kayla M. Rooney (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP) for Shopline Technology Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Shopline US, Inc.

Companies: Shopify Inc.; Shopline Technology Holdings Pte. Ltd.; Shopline US, Inc.; Sinoxpress Inc.

Cases: Copyright TechnologyInternet NewYorkNews