Plaintiff filed a trademark infringement and counterfeiting action against dozens of e-commerce vendors, most of which, including the defendant, resided in China. The district court allowed plaintiffs to serve defendant in China by email by finding that the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (also known as the Hague Service Commission) permitted service in that manner. The district court then entered default judgment. Defendant eventually appeared and moved to vacate the judgment for lack of proper service. The district court denied the motion and defendant appealed. The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded, explaining that the Convention prohibits email service in China and that the district court must decide whether the Convention applied at all to the matter. (JACKSON-AKIWUMI and PRYOR, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Service of Process