Shenzhen Chunyan Technology Co Ltd v. Hong Kong Xingtai International Trade Co Limited

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington grants Shenzhen Chunyan Technology Co. Ltd.’s ex parte motion for alternative service of process on Hong Kong Xingtai International Trade Co Limited. The Court authorizes service by email under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3), concluding that the method is not prohibited by the Hague Convention and is reasonably calculated to provide notice.

Holdings

1. The court may authorize service by email under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3) where the requested method is not prohibited by an international agreement; because Plaintiff lacked a known address for Defendant, the Hague Convention did not apply, and email service was not otherwise prohibited.
2. Service by email to the address Defendant used to communicate with Amazon in a related patent-evaluation proceeding satisfies due process because it is reasonably calculated to provide Defendant with notice of the action.

Questions Presented

1. Whether email service on a foreign corporation in Hong Kong is authorized under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3), as incorporated by Rule 4(h)(2), and is not prohibited by an applicable international agreement.
2. Whether service by email to the address Defendant used in a related Amazon patent-evaluation proceeding is reasonably calculated to provide notice and therefore satisfies due process.

Disposition

other