ROBERT L. MILLER, JR., District Judge.
Kitt Holdings, Inc. sued Mobileye B.V., claiming patent infringement. Mobileye B.V. moved to dismiss the suit pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) for lack of personal jurisdiction and 12(b)(3) for lack of proper venue. [Doc. No. 22]. For the following reasons, the court grants the motion in part and denies it in part.
Because the complaint raises patent infringement claims, case law of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals applies to the jurisdictional issues in Mobileye B.V.'s motion to dismiss.
"[A court's] determination of whether a defendant is subject to specific personal jurisdiction in the forum state involves two inquiries: first, whether the forum state's long-arm statute permits service of process and, second, whether the assertion of jurisdiction is consistent with due process."
The parties proceed on the assumption that Indiana is the relevant forum for personal jurisdiction and don't address the application of Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 4(k)(2). "Rule 4(k)(2) allows `a court to exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant if (1) the plaintiff's claim arises under federal law, (2) the defendant is not subject to jurisdiction in any state's courts of general jurisdiction, and (3) the exercise of jurisdiction comports with due process.'"
There are two types of personal jurisdiction: general and specific.
This court can exercise specific jurisdiction over Mobileye B.V. only if: "(1) [Mobileye B.V] purposefully directed its activities at residents of the forum; (2) the claim arises out of or relates to [Mobileye B.V's] activities with the forum; and (3) assertion of personal jurisdiction is reasonable and fair."
Mobileye B.V. argues that it isn't subject to specific personal jurisdiction and, in support, filed an affidavit by Ofer Maharshak, its Chief Financial Officer, in which he declares that Mobileye B.V. doesn't own any intellectual property; doesn't manufacture, sell, distribute, or ship any products to the United States; and has never made or manufactured the accused products. [Doc. No. 23]. In response, Kitt Holdings contends that the court can exercise specific jurisdiction over Mobileye B.V. under the stream of commerce theory because, according to Kitt Holdings, Mobileye B.V. intended to serve a U.S. market and Indiana, that intent resulted in the introduction of a product into that market, and Kitt Holdings' cause of action results from injuries caused by that product.
Kitt Holdings suggests evidence it submitted contradicts Mr. Maharshak's declaration, pointing to a Mobileye B.V. 20-F Securities and Exchange Commission filing that says "we" own considerable intellectual property and "our products were installed in approximately 9.7 million vehicles worldwide through December 31, 2015"; a Mobileye B.V. 6-K form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission describing "Mobileye's products [that] are or will be integrated into car models from more than 25 global automakers"; and a Mobileye website it claims lists at least two retailers in Indiana.
Mobileye B.V. aruges that Kitt Holdings improperly conflates Mobileye B.V. with its subsidiaries and partners and that its evidence, when viewed in whole, doesn't contradict Mr. Maharshak's affidavit. The court agrees. Other parts of the 20-F filing expressly state that Mobileye B.V. is a holding company and that Mobileye Vision Technologies, not Mobileye B.V., owns all Mobileye intellectual property. While Kitt Holdings highlights an portion of the 20-F filing that says "we" own considerable intellectual property and "our products were installed in approximately 9.7 million vehicles worldwide through December 31, 2015," page three of the filing, also omitted by Kitt Holdings, clarifies that references to "Mobileye," "we," and "our" "refer to Mobileye [B].V. together with its subsidiaries." The portion of the 6-K form cited by Kitt Holdings appears to be an accurate statement of activities of the Mobileye companies generally and its references to Mobileye generally, not Mobileye B.V. specifically, don't contradict Mr. Maharshak's declaration or the 20-F filing. Kitt Holdings doesn't provide any evidence to suggest that Mobileye B.V., rather than another Mobileye company, owns and operates the mobileye.com website.
To the extent Kitt Holdings seeks to impute the activities of Mobileye B.V.'s subsidiaries to Mobileye B.V., it is unavailing. Kitt Holdings cites no evidence that Mobileye B.V. exerts control over its subsidiaries or that corporate formalities were disregarded. See
Kitt Holdings carries the burden of making a prima facie case that this court has personal jurisdiction over Mobileye B.V., see
Having determined that the court doesn't have personal jurisdiction over Mobileye B.V., Mobileye B.V.'s motion to dismiss the suit pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 12(b)(3) for lack of proper venue is moot.
Accordingly, the court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Mobileye B.V.'s motion to dismiss [Doc. No. 22] as follows: the court GRANTS the motion insofar as it seeks to dismiss the suit pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 12(b)(2) for lack of personal jurisdiction and DENIES AS MOOT the motion's request to dismiss the suit pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 12(b)(3) for lack of proper venue.
SO ORDERED.