Personal jurisdiction and the Web

In Quality Design & Construction, Inc. v. Tuff Coat Manufacturing, Inc., 2005-1712 (La. App. 1 Cir. 7/12/06), the First Circuit addressed "the res nova issue of the exercise of personal jurisdiction by Louisiana over a nonresident defendant based on that defendant's contact with Louisiana through its Internet website." In resolving the issue, the court adopted the "sliding scale" approach, originally formulated in Zippo Manufacturing Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc., 952 F. Supp. 1119 (W.D. Pa. 1997). Finding the defendant's web site to be "more closely aligned to the 'passive' end of the spectrum," the court affirmed judgment sustaining the defendant's declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction.

Posted by RPW at July 19, 2006 02:30 PM