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Long-Distance Lawsuits

Published November 6, 2013 by TNJ Staff
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Recently, the owner of a retail business in Pennsylvania received a summons to appear in court in California. A movie producer was suing him.

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?Apparently, someone ordered a movie DVD on my website, which turned out to be a counterfeit copy. The buyer reported it to the movie producer, who is now suing me,? the business owner explains. ?Most of my online sales come through a third-party retailer. I send the merchandise to their warehouse in California, and they fulfill all orders from my company website. They take care of shipping, sales tax and other costs on each transaction and remit the balance to me each month.?

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The warehouse company admitted that they ?occasionally? combine inventories from multiple sellers who are selling similar merchandise. ?They must have sent someone else?s (counterfeit) DVD to the customer who ordered from my website,? the business owner says, adding, ?There?s a hearing scheduled in California. Should I plan to attend??

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Four words for you: Get a lawyer now!

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Whenever you are served with lawsuit papers, even if it?s in a faraway place, you should never just close your eyes and hope it will go away. It won?t. You need to hire a California lawyer who specializes in counterfeiting cases. Search online for ?California lawyer counterfeiting,? followed by the city and state in which the hearing will be held.

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First, find out if this is a criminal case (where you will be hit with a fine), or a civil case (where you will be sued for damages). A criminal conviction against your business will have big negative consequences for you, and you don?t want to risk that happening ?by default? if you don?t show up. You are better off defending the suit as best you can.

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Hopefully, the warehouse company will be able to trace the counterfeit DVD back to the company that originally shipped it to them (via barcode or sticker data). If they can, that should be enough to get you off the hook. If they can?t, you will be fighting an uphill battle to prove to the California court that you weren?t at fault here. California has some of the toughest anti-counterfeiting statutes in the country and they really play hardball with violators, even innocent ones like you.

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If this is a civil case (you are being sued for damages), you have a choice: Hire a California lawyer to appear in the case, or decide not to attend the hearing, let the movie producer get a default judgment against you (which they probably will), and then wait for them to try to enforce their judgment against you in Pennsylvania. Under the ?full faith and credit clause? of the federal Constitution, state courts are obligated to honor judgments that have been rendered in other states. But there?s a big loophole for ?default judgments? where the defendant doesn?t show up. Many state court judges do not like to enforce ?default judgments? from other states, because an in-state resident (a taxpayer and voter) was denied his day in court. Instead, they will order a new trial. This will give you a chance to defend the case in Pennsylvania, on your home turf. Every sports fan knows about the ?home-court advantage,? and it applies here as well.

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Talk to a local lawyer in Pennsylvania about the likelihood of a local judge throwing out a California default judgment. If the lawyer feels it?s worth the risk, sit back and wait to see what happens. If you do make an appearance in the California case, however, and the judge out there rules against you that will not be considered a ?default judgment.? You have had your day in court, and a Pennsylvania judge will be duty-bound under the federal Constitution to honor that judgment.

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In any case, it sounds like you have one heck of a case against the warehouse company that messed up here, especially if you can prove that all merchandise shipped to them was 100 percent genuine when it left your company. Whether you talk to a California or a Pennsylvania lawyer, you should ask about impleading the warehouse company (bringing them in as a co-defendant) in the lawsuit, and maybe also the seller of the counterfeit DVD.

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TNJ Staff