IP Law Daily, TRADEMARK—M.D. Fla.: Amended complaint suffices to survive dismissal on personal jurisdiction grounds, (Aug 29, 2022)

By Kevin M. Finson, J.D.

A trademark suit previously dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction was allowed to continue after amendment because the new allegations showed continuous and systematic business contacts with the forum state.

A seller of golf course turf maintenance products showed personal jurisdiction over a Mexican resident and former business partner after amending its complaint, the federal district court in Tampa has held. New allegations of substantial, continuous, and systematic contacts met the standard for general personal jurisdiction (HSC Organics LLC v. Bymaster, August 23, 2022, Jung, W.).

HSC Organics, LLC (HSC) was a company co-founded by Greg Smith to market and sell products to treat soil and maintain turf grass, primarily for golf courses. Ryan Bymaster worked with Smith to sell the products in Mexico and acted as translator. Bymaster, a resident of Mexico, was retained by Smith to market both HSC and its Mexican sister company, and purportedly conveyed some interest in both companies to Smith as compensation for past and future services. After the parties’ relationship soured, Bymaster attempted to register the company’s logo with the USPTO. He also claimed to be the company’s sole owner and took control of the companies’ websites and directed traffic to his own site.

HSC filed suit in the Middle District of Florida for unfair competition under the Lanham Act, violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, common law trademark infringement, violation of the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and a declaratory judgment on the issue of ownership of the marks. After Bymaster obtained dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, HSC filed an amended complaint with additional jurisdictional allegations. Bymaster again moved to dismiss.

General personal jurisdiction. HSC argued that the Florida court could exercise general personal jurisdiction over Bymaster because he sent hundreds of business-related texts and emails to HSC in Florida, requested information and ingredients to prepare the Florida company's patented product, exchanged leads, marketed the Florida business to golf courses, attended a trade show on behalf of that business, and also owned 250,000 membership units in the Florida business. The Court held that all of these contacts, considered together, showed the continuous and systematic business relationship necessary to support general personal jurisdiction. The motion to dismiss the amended complaint was denied.

The Court held that because HSC had established general personal jurisdiction it did not need to reach the issue of specific personal jurisdiction.

The case is No. 8:21-cv-01852-WFJ-MRM.

Attorneys: Richard Edson Fee (Fee & Jeffries PA) for HSC Organics, LLC. Elizabeth Joy Campbell (Locke Lord, LLP) for Ryan L. Bymaster.

Companies: HSC Organics, LLC

Cases: Trademark FloridaNews