Bittorrent, Inc. v. Bittorrent Marketing GMBH

Filing 26

ORDER SETTING DEADLINE FOR SERVICE OF PROCESS. The court orders Plaintiff to effectuate service of process and file documents to show proof of service of the Summons and Complaint on or before 12/2/2013. Signed by Judge Edward J. Davila on 10/2/2013. (ejdlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/2/2013)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SAN JOSE DIVISION
CASE NO. 5:12-cv-02525 EJD

BITTORRENT, INC.,

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ORDER SETTING DEADLINE FOR
SERVICE OF PROCESS

Plaintiff(s),
For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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v.
BITTORRENT MARKETING GMBH,

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Defendant(s).
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/

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On May 16, 2012, Plaintiff BitTorrent, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) filed the Complaint underlying this

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action. See Docket Item No. 1. To date, however, the docket does not contain a proof of service or

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waiver of service for any defendant, and no defendant has appeared in this action.

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Generally, service of process must be completed within 120 days of the after the complaint is

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filed. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). If not, “the court - on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff -

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must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within

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a specified time.” Id. This 120-day deadline does not apply, however, in instances requiring service

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in a foreign country. Id.

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Here, the only named defendant appears to domiciled in Germany, thereby exempting this

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action from the Rule 4(m) deadline. But at the same time, the court notes this case has been pending

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for over one year, unserved, without further progress. Under these circumstances, “the court is not

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precluded from setting a reasonable time limit for service in a foreign country so that it can properly

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manage a civil case.” Karimi v. Poker Media Sys. SAS, Case No. 2:13-cv-01250-JCM-NJK, 2013
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CASE NO. 5:12-cv-02525 EJD
ORDER SETTING DEADLINE FOR SERVICE OF PROCESS

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U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112587, at *6, 2013 WL 4048578 (D. Nev. Aug. 8, 2013).
Accordingly, the court orders Plaintiff to effectuate service of process on Defendant

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BitTorrent Marketing GMBH and file documents to show proof of service of the Summons and

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Complaint on or before December 2, 2013. Plaintiff is notified that the court will dismiss this

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action without prejudice if proof of service is not filed by the date ordered herein.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: October 2, 2013
EDWARD J. DAVILA
United States District Judge

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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CASE NO. 5:12-cv-02525 EJD
ORDER SETTING DEADLINE FOR SERVICE OF PROCESS