Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the defendant, a South Korean manufacturer, after a battery manufactured by defendant exploded in the plaintiff’s pocket and injured him. The district court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and plaintiff appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that while the defendant sold its products for use as a component in consumer products and had purposely availed itself of the Indiana forum through an end-product stream of commerce, there was a disconnect between the defendant’s contacts with the forum and the lawsuit, which resulted from a consumer purchase of a derivative product. The appellate court explained that the disconnect foreclosed the federal court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction. (SYKES and LEE, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Personal Jurisdiction