Filetech S.A.R.L. v. France Telecom

Filetech S.A. (plaintiff) was a French corporation that compiled information about consumers and sold marketing lists. France Telecom S.A. (defendant) was a corporation owned and operated by the French government. France Telecom provided telephone services to France and compiled information about its customers to develop marketing lists. France Telecom did some business in the United States, invoicing United States customers for a total of $15,000 since 1993. Under French law, individuals could opt out of allowing their personal data to be processed on computers. To comply with the law, France Telecom made a list of its customers who opted out of having their data processed. France Telecom, the only company with the list, refused to share the list with its competitors and offered to sell its marketing lists with the names on the list removed. Filetech sued France Telecom in federal court, alleging that France Telecom violated § 2 of the Sherman Act by monopolizing the marketing-list industry. France Telecom moved to dismiss, arguing that the doctrine of international comity prevented United States courts from hearing the case and that the courts lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the case under the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA) and Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). The district court dismissed Filetech’s complaint on international-comity grounds. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the district court should have first considered whether it had subject-matter jurisdiction. The court of appeals remanded the case for the district court to determine whether subject-matter jurisdiction existed.