MIAMI — A federal court has granted a Nashville company's claim of lack of personal jurisdiction dismissal in a lawsuit with a Fort Lauderdale data and network security company regarding trademark infringement.
According to the June 28 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida filing, defendant Asurion LLC filed a dispositive motion to dismiss or transfer for lack of personal jurisdiction in a case involving plaintiff Netsurion LLC.
The case stems from a trademark infringement dispute involving Netsurion, a Florida-based network and cybersecurity company for businesses, and Ausrion, a Nashville company that provides customer tech support for mobile devices, consumer electronics and home appliances with call centers in Florida.
At question before the court is a "jurisdictional dispute" in the case with Asurion arguing it is not incorporated in Florida and that only 4 percent of its nearly 20,000 employees are employed in Florida.
Netsurion argued that in addition to having two call centers in Florida, Asurion also has office space in Orlando, operates repair centers in several cities across Florida and markets its business to Florida clients on its website. In addition, Netsurion notes that Asurion has 11 "subsidiaries" that are registered with the Florida Department of State, and cite Florida's long-arm statute.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz disagreed with Netsurion's arguments, stating "none of the activities the plaintiff highlights—defendant’s subsidiaries, call centers, employees, or the availability of its products and services in Florida— demonstrate that the plaintiff’s non-infringement claims arise from defendant’s in-state activities."
The court found Netsurion did not "establish general jurisdiction" while denying its alternative request for jurisdictional discovery, granted Asurion's dismissal and closed the case.