Reported / Citable
Background
Shangyou Jiayi Lighting Product Co. brought a “Schedule A” patent-infringement action against multiple Amazon storefronts allegedly operated together from China. It moved ex parte for permission to serve the defendants by email, a temporary restraining order halting sales of the accused lighting products, a freeze of money held by third-party providers, expedited discovery, and continued sealing of filings identifying the defendants and accused products.
The plaintiff supported its jurisdictional allegations with Amazon checkout screenshots showing that products could be shipped to an address in Plano, Texas, but offered no evidence of completed Texas sales. Its infringement showing consisted principally of a three-page exemplary claim chart depicting one unidentified product, although the suit covered approximately 14 product listings. The plaintiff also offered only generic assertions that advance notice might prompt defendants to move assets or open new storefronts.
The Court’s Holding
The court denied email service because the plaintiff represented that the defendants were in China but did not show diligent efforts to determine their physical addresses. Where the Hague Service Convention applies, the court held, its authorized methods are exclusive, and China’s objection to Article 10 means email service is unavailable under Rule 4(f)(3). The plaintiff could proceed through the Convention for foreign defendants or use Rule 4(h)(1) for any domestic defendant.
The court also denied the ex parte TRO, asset restraint, and expedited discovery as requested. The plaintiff had not shown a reasonable probability of personal jurisdiction over each defendant, because nationwide-accessible storefronts and incomplete checkout pages did not establish defendant-created Texas contacts. Independently, the plaintiff failed to certify specific grounds for dispensing with notice, failed to make an adequate product-by-product infringement showing, sought an impermissibly broad prejudgment freeze for legal damages, and proposed an unsupported $10,000 bond. Although joinder was permissible at this stage because the storefronts were alleged to be part of one operation, joinder did not establish jurisdiction.
The court denied the sealing motions because any justification for temporary secrecy ended when the ex parte requests were resolved. It ordered the relevant filings unsealed, while allowing motions for particularized redactions. The court also permitted the plaintiff to seek leave for targeted Rule 45 subpoenas limited to records of accused-product sales shipped to Texas.
Key Takeaways
- A plaintiff seeking to serve China-based defendants by email must confront the Hague Service Convention and cannot avoid it without showing diligent efforts to determine whether physical addresses are known.
- Online storefront availability and checkout screenshots showing possible Texas delivery do not, without completed sales or other forum-directed conduct, establish a reasonable probability of personal jurisdiction.
- Ex parte Schedule A relief requires defendant-specific jurisdictional facts, a developed infringement showing, concrete reasons for dispensing with notice, narrowly tailored remedies, and factual support for the proposed injunction bond.
Why It Matters
The decision subjects common Schedule A litigation practices to close scrutiny under the Hague Service Convention, personal-jurisdiction doctrine, Rule 65, patent-specific joinder rules, and the public’s right of access to judicial records. It signals that the efficiencies of suing related online sellers together do not excuse proof as to service, jurisdiction, infringement, irreparable harm, and remedy scope.
For patent owners, the order points toward narrower pre-relief investigation and discovery, including targeted subpoenas seeking evidence of actual forum sales. For online sellers and platforms, it limits sweeping restraints that could freeze unrelated proceeds or impair defendants’ ability to retain counsel before jurisdiction and infringement have been tested.