U.S District Judge Rules Against Alibaba Trademark Lawsuit
The U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken has ruled out against Alibaba’s trademark lawsuit against the Alibabacoin Foundation some time back in April, the court filings stated.
According to the ruling, Alibaba did not show that the District Court from the Southern District of New York has jurisdiction over the Alibabacoin Foundation. Alibaba initially brought the suit in early April, when it alleged that Alibabacoin was trying to mislead investors by entailing that Alibaba was involved in the project somehow.
The foundation is based in the Cayman Islands, and while its website is accessible in New York State, that alone is insufficient to prove ‘personal jurisdiction.’
“Alibaba fails to cite a single case in which a court has concluded that an agreement with a third-party web-hosting company in New York bears an articulable nexus to a trademark infringement claim involving a website,” stated Oetken.
The district judge further went on saying that Alibaba did not present any U.S.-based individual that maintains the foundation’s website, which, he argued, will be needed for a jurisdiction argument.
He added that some of Alibaba’s arguments would also apply to security cases, but not to a trademark suit.
“Alibaba has failed to identify a specific economic injury in New York … nor has it alleged the existence of a New York market in which it lost actual or potential customers to Alibabacoin. To the contrary, Alibaba expressly disclaims any intention to enter the cryptocurrency market, in New York or anywhere else,” he stated.
“Without allegations of specific, non-speculative harm in the form of actual or potential injury in a New York market for it services. Alibaba cannot establish a New York-based injury under an economic tort theory.” He continued.
He finished by releasing the temporary restraining order by Alibaba against Alibabacoin was dissolved.
The judge noted, “Alibaba has not met its burden to establish a reasonable probability that the Court has personal jurisdiction over Alibabacoin.”
