Gator.com Corp. v. L.L. Bean, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
341 F.3d 1072 (2003)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
L.L. Bean, Inc. (defendant) was a Maine corporation with its principal place of business in Maine. L.L. Bean sent catalogs and email solicitations to California residents and operated a commercial website accessible in California. Gator.com Corporation (Gator) (plaintiff) was a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in California. Gator provided a digital wallet for its customers that stored online passwords, credit cards, and other information to be used at online retailers. Gator also would present its users on certain websites with pop-up coupons to competitors’ websites. For example, Gator presented users on L.L. Bean’s website with coupons to L.L. Bean’s competitor Eddie Bauer. L.L. Bean sent Gator a cease-and-desist letter. Gator filed for a declaratory judgment in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California that it was not infringing on any L.L. Bean trademark and was not engaged in unfair competition or any other violation of law. L.L. Bean filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The district court granted the motion. Gator appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ferguson, J.)
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