Trademark infringement Houston-based defendant who was sued in Illinois was dismissed because of lack of personal jurisdiction in Illinois. District court relied upon tradition “minimum contacts” theory of personal jurisdiction to find that defendant did not have sufficient contacts with Illinois. Federal trademark registration under 15 U.S.C. 1072 does not create automatic jurisdiction nor nationwide service of process. Internet website emphasizing Houston service was an insufficient contact with Illinois to create minimum contacts. Actions taken by defendant to prevent preliminary injunction did not act as a waiver of jurisdiction or venue challenge. The district court found that defendant did not directly aim potentially infringing conduct towards Illinois. Seventh Circuit affirmed. Note that the Seventh Circuit applied its own tests for personal jurisdiction. This seems to clash with a recent Federal Circuit opinion in Nuance Communications v. Abbyy Software House (Fed. Cir. 2010) that indicates that Federal Circuit tests should be used, but for all practical purposes the tests are very similar.
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