In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that an Australian cosmetic company is subject to the personal jurisdiction of a federal district court in California despite having no traditional “minimum contact” ties to the state of California. The decision relies on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(2), the rarely-invoked rule authorizing courts to exercise nationwide jurisdiction over foreign parties who would not otherwise be subject to jurisdiction in any individual state of the United States. Notably, the Ninth Circuit’s decision largely turned on the Australian company’s marketing on social media—directed to “USA BABES”—and use of U.S.-based influencers.
Alya Skin Pty. Ltd. is an Australian beauty and skincare brand known for its “World Famous Pink Clay Mask” shown below. It uses ALYA and ALYA SKIN to market its clay mask and other pink skincare products to customers across the globe. Alya Skin began marketing its products in 2018.
Ayla LLC is a California-based beauty brand and retail business. It markets a variety of specialized skin, body, and hair care products, including its own line of AYLA branded products. Ayla owns three U.S. trademark registrations for the mark AYLA covering, among other goods and services, “cosmetics” and “online retail store services in the field of cosmetics and beauty products.” Ayla began using the AYLA mark in 2011.
In February 2019, Ayla filed a Complaint in the Northern District of California alleging that Alya...
Read Full Story: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/influenced-by-social-media-marketing-6840977/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.