Yahoo!, Inc. v. MyMail, Ltd.
Filing
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ORDER by Judge Davila denying without prejudice 20 Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction; denying without prejudice 32 Motion to Dismiss. (ejdlc3, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/11/2017)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SAN JOSE DIVISION
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YAHOO!, INC.,
Case No. 5:16-cv-07044-EJD
Plaintiff,
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ORDER DENYING WITHOUT
PREJUDICE DEFENDANT’S MOTION
TO DISMISS, STAY OR TRANSFER
AND DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO
DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL
JURISDICTION AND IMPROPER
VENUE
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DOCKET NOS. 20, 32
v.
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MYMAIL, LTD.,
United States District Court
Northern District of California
Defendant.
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The following motions are scheduled for hearing on July 13, 2017: Defendant’s Motion to
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Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction and Improper Venue and Defendant’s Motion to
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Dismiss, Stay or Transfer. The Court finds it appropriate to take the motions under submission for
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decision without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b). Having considered the
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motion, opposition and reply briefs, and for the reasons set forth below, the Court denies
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Defendant’s motions without prejudice.
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The parties are involved in two separate lawsuits. The first filed action is a patent
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infringement suit initiated in 2016 by MyMail, Ltd. (“MyMail”) against Yahoo!, Inc. (“Yahoo”) in
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the Eastern District of Texas, Civil Action No. 2:16-cv-01000-JRG-RSP (“Texas Action”). In the
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Texas Action, MyMail alleges, among other things, that Yahoo’s testing and implementation of
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the Yahoo Toolbar infringes two of MyMail’s patents.
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Yahoo initiated the second action in this Court against MyMail for breach of Yahoo’s
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Toolbar Software License and Yahoo’s Terms of Service (“Yahoo Agreements”), both of which
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Case No.: 5:16-cv-07044-EJD
ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS, STAY
OR TRANSFER AND DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL
JURISDICTION AND IMPROPER VENUE
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contain a forum selection clause specifying jurisdiction exclusively in the courts located within the
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County of Santa Clara, California. Complaint, ¶¶19, 24. In the instant action, Yahoo alleges,
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among other things, that MyMail breached one or both of the Yahoo Agreements and its duty of
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good faith and fair dealing by engaging in the following acts: bringing the Texas Action outside
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the courts of the County of Santa Clara; reverse engineering one or more versions of the Yahoo
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Toolbar and using the Yahoo Toolbar in a manner inconsistent with the Yahoo Agreements;
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seeking to derive income from use of Yahoo software; and copying Yahoo software and data
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obtained through Yahoo software and by transferring or transmitting data obtained through Yahoo
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software in the MyMail Complaint and First Amended Complaint filed in the Texas Action.
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MyMail moves to dismiss this action for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue.
United States District Court
Northern District of California
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According to MyMail, Yahoo’s sole basis for asserting that this Court has jurisdiction over
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MyMail and that venue is proper are the forum selection clauses found in the Yahoo Agreements.
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MyMail contends that it did not enter into the Yahoo Agreements, nor did it authorize, instruct or
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direct anyone to enter into the Yahoo Agreements on its behalf; that the Yahoo Agreements are
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“browsewrap agreements” that do not reasonably communicate the terms of those Agreements to
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any user opening a Yahoo e-mail account and downloading the Toolbar; and that MyMail’s patent
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infringement claims do not fall within the scope of the Yahoo Agreements. MyMail also moves to
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dismiss, stay or transfer the action pursuant to the first-to-file rule.
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On March 17, 2017, Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne issued an order in the Texas Action
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denying Yahoo’s motion to change venue.1 In doing so, Judge Payne rejected Yahoo’s argument
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that MyMail’s patent infringement claims fall within the scope of the forum selection clauses.
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Judge Payne also found that Yahoo had failed to furnish reliable evidence that someone with
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authority to bind MyMail agreed to the terms of the Yahoo Agreements. See MyMail’s Motion to
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Dismiss, Stay or Transfer. Yahoo has filed objections to the Judge’s Order and My Mail has filed
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Pursuant to Rule 201 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court takes judicial
notice of the Order. See Exhibit G attached to Buether Decl. in Support of Motion to Dismiss,
Stay or Transfer.
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a response to those objections. Because the applicability of the forum selection clauses in the
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Yahoo Agreements is central to the pending motions in this Court and remains the subject of
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motion practice in the Texas Action, the Court DENIES Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, Stay or
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Transfer and Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction without prejudice to
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Defendant’s right to renew the motions, if appropriate, after the Eastern District of Texas rules on
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Yahoo’s pending objection.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: July 11, 2017
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EDWARD J. DAVILA
United States District Judge
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