FREDERICK J. MARTONE, District Judge.
The court has before it counterdefendants Pedal Logic LP and Juno Holdings Inc.'s ("Pedal counterdefendants") motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction (doc. 55), AirFX LLC's ("defendant") response (doc. 60), and the Pedal counterdefendants' reply (doc. 63).
This action arises out of a dispute over the domain name airfx.com, which is currently registered to plaintiff Marc Lurie. AirFX LLC asserted four counterclaims against plaintiff and new parties Pedal Logic LP and Juno Holdings Inc.: (1) trademark infringement; (2) cybersquatting in violation of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act; (3) intentional interference with prospective economic/contractual advantage; and (4) abuse of process.
The Pedal counterdefendants first argue that defendant lacks standing to bring its trademark infringement counterclaim. Article III of the Constitution limits federal court jurisdiction to cases and controversies.
Defendant does not directly address Article III standing in its response, arguing instead that this court has subject matter jurisdiction because the trademark infringement claim arises under the Lanham Act and this court has supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367. But defendant does not escape the requirements of Article III standing simply because its claims are styled as counterclaims. We cannot adjudicate a counterclaim — whether before the court under § 1331, § 1332, or § 1367 — if there is no case or controversy.
Defendant's factual allegations concerning the Pedal counterdefendants are brief. Defendant alleges that Pedal Logic was named on a June 2011 intent to use application for the AIRFX mark in connection with wind tunnels. Defendant also alleges that plaintiff Lurie is the owner of both Pedal Logic and Juno Holdings. Defendant does not have standing to assert a trademark infringement claim against Juno Holdings on the counterclaim's face, as it does not even refer to Juno Holdings. Defendant has not met its burden to show that it has standing to bring its counterclaim against Juno Holdings, and we dismiss the trademark infringement counterclaim against Juno Holdings for lack of jurisdiction.
Defendant's counterclaim does, however, make allegations concerning Pedal Logic. It asserts that Pedal Logic is using the AIRFX mark and is causing defendant, owner of the mark, injury. This type of injury would be redressable by a decision in defendant's favor. Pedal Logic, however, disputes defendant's factual contention that it has made use of the AIRFX mark and injured defendant. To do so, it submitted an affidavit averring that the June intent to use application was erroneously filed under the applicant Pedal Logic, when it should have been filed under Marc Lurie's name.
Defendant did not present any evidence to refute the Pedal counterdefendants' argument that they have caused no harm. However, the issue cannot be resolved on a Rule 12(b)(1) motion, because whether defendant has been injured by use of the AIRFX mark is intertwined with the merits of the trademark infringement claim.
Alternatively, Pedal Logic moves to dismiss the counterclaim for lack of personal jurisdiction. Here, defendant bears the burden of establishing that personal jurisdiction is appropriate.
Defendant argues that Pedal Logic has purposely availed itself of the laws of Arizona through its relationship to Marc Lurie. In defendant's view, Lurie and Pedal Logic are interchangeable alter egos. Even assuming that this is correct, defendant has not established that specific jurisdiction over Pedal Logic for the trademark infringement claim is proper. The only alleged contact that Lurie has had with Arizona is filing his complaint for reverse domain name hijacking. The complaint was filed here due to defendant's selection of Arizona — the state where airfx.com's registrar is located — as the proper forum during the UDRP proceeding that triggered Lurie's complaint. Defendant has not alleged that Lurie has conducted any other activities within Arizona, and has not alleged that Pedal Logic, a California partnership, has any independent connection with the state. Moreover, defendant's allegations of trademark infringement against Pedal Logic have nothing to do with Lurie's initiation of litigation over airfx.com. Defendant alleges that Pedal Logic is developing an AirFX product relating to vehicle technologies, and Pedal Logic's use of the AirFX mark is likely to cause confusion. There are no allegations that Pedal Logic (through Lurie) has used airfx.com to market its vehicle products or plans to do so. Thus, even if Pedal Logic is the alter ego of Lurie, and even if Lurie's filing of the complaint constitutes a sufficient minimum contact, AirFX's claims of trademark infringement have nothing to do with Lurie's contact with Arizona — his litigation over airfx.com. Specific personal jurisdiction does not lie when the claim does not relate to the contact with the state, and defendant has not shown that Lurie or Pedal Logic have the substantial or continuous contacts with Arizona required to exercise general jurisdiction.
In the alternative, defendant asks for jurisdictional discovery. It believes that additional discovery will reveal a lack of distinction between Lurie and the entities he controls and a pattern of bad faith cybersquatting. Courts should deny requests for jurisdictional discovery when a party fails to show that additional discovery would uncover necessary facts to prove that a court has personal jurisdiction.
Because we find that defendant lacks standing to litigate its counterclaim against Juno Holdings and that we do not have personal jurisdiction over Pedal Logic, we do not reach the merits to address the Pedal counterdefendants' alternative argument that defendant fails to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), Fed. R. Civ. P.