Plixer International, Inc. v. Scrutinizer GMBH

Scrutinizer GmbH (Scrutinizer) (defendant) was a German corporation with its principal place of business in Kassel, Germany. Scrutinizer ran an interactive, English-language, self-service website that helped improve customers’ software. Scrutinizer only accepted payment from customers in euros, but the service was provided globally and could be accessed anywhere the internet was available. From 2014 to 2017, Scrutinizer continually sold its services to 156 customers in the United States and earned the equivalent in euros of approximately $200,000 in revenue. Scrutinizer’s standard customer contract contained a forum-selection clause and a choice-of-law clause that provided all lawsuits relating to the contract be brought in German courts under German law. Scrutinizer did not have an office, phone number, advertising, or agent of service in the United States. In 2016, Plixer International, Inc. (Plixer), a Maine corporation, sued Scrutinizer in federal district court in Maine for trademark infringement. Plixer owned the United States registered mark Scrutinizer, and Plixer’s trademark application covered anti-malware computer software and hardware. Plixer claimed that Scrutinizer’s use of the term Scrutinizer caused confusion, mistake, or deception as to the source of Scrutinizer’s services. The district court found it could exercise personal jurisdiction over Scrutinizer. Scrutinizer argued that the exercise of personal jurisdiction would not comport with due process. The court of appeals granted an interlocutory appeal on the district court’s recommendation.