Miller, Del Pizzo and Kang Obtain Dismissal For Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

Gregory D. Miller, Nancy A. Del Pizzo and Gene Y. Kang, along with co-counsel Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw and Pittman LLP, obtained dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction in a District of New Jersey  trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition action involving two diagnostic services and genetic testing companies.  The dispute involved information allegedly taken by plaintiff’s former employees who had worked at the plaintiff’s New Jersey office and had become employees of the California-based defendant. The Court found no general jurisdiction based on defendant’s lack of sufficiently consistent and systematic contacts with New Jersey and found no specific jurisdiction under either the minimum contacts or Calder effects test, finding no “purposeful direction of activities towards New Jersey.” The Court found defendant’s sales to New Jersey customers satisfied one component of the minimum contacts analysis but failure to meet the overall test because those contacts did not form the basis of the alleged injuries. Finally, because the Court found no personal jurisdiction, it declined to address transferring the case to California.