Tenth Circuit: Submitting eBay VeRO notice confers jurisdiciton in alleged infringer's home state

In a recent decision, the Tenth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a copyright case for lack of personal jurisdiction.  The case arose out of the efforts by a copyright holder to have an eBay auction for allegedly infringing products removed via eBay's VeRO program.  After the auction was removed, the alleged infringer filed suit, seeking a declaration that its products did not infringe.  The district court had dismissed the matter for lack of personal jurisdiction, rejecting a Calder-type argument that the act of removing the auction was specifically directed to Colorado, where the alleged infringer resided.

The Tenth Circuit reversed the dismissal, finding that at least at the pleadings stage, a prima facie showing of jurisdiction had been made under Calder.  Specifically, the complaint sufficiently alleged that the copyright holder's actions were intentional and expressly aimed at the forum state with knowledge that the brunt of the injury would be felt in the forum state, and that the case arose out of that conduct.

More detail of Dudnikov v. Chalk & Vermillion Fine Arts, Inc. after the jump.

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