On September 24, 2024, District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon (S.D.N.Y) denied Plaintiff Square One Choices, Inc. (“SOC”)’s Motion for Alternative Service because SOC failed to show that the Hague Convention permits service by email on defendants located in China. Slip Op. at 1.
SOC is the assignee and owner of U.S. Patent No. 11,123,901 (“the ’901 patent”) which is directed to 3D drawing pens capable of creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawings. SOC alleges that Yiwu Bingwen Trading Co. (“YBT”) directly infringed the ’901 patent by selling a similar product on Amazon in the U.S. YBT is located in China and has no offices in the U.S.
SOC sought to serve process on YBT and filed a motion for alternative service via email pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3) which allows service “by means not prohibited by international agreement, as the court orders.” However, although China is a member of the Hague Convention, China objected to service via postal channels.
The Court found that an objection to service via postal channels necessarily encompasses an objection to service via email. Id. at 2. As such, the Court found that China prohibits service by email on defendants located in China and denied SOC’s Motion for Alternative Service. Id.
The case is Square One Choices, Inc. v. Yiwu Bingwen Trading Co., No. 1:24-cv-02777 (JLR) (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2024).
