On November 3, 2011, a United States District Court in Louisiana denied Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke GmbH’s (“NSW”) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The case arises out of a products liability claim regarding the sale of allegedly defective umbilical cables used in underwater robots (also known as, “ROV’s”).
The Court listed the following reasons for denying personal jurisdiction:1) Defendant promoted its products to customers in the Louisiana market, and specifically the general underwater robot market in the Gulf region; 2) Regular visits were made by NSW employees to entertain and otherwise maintain contact with customers in Louisiana ( beyond Defendant’s means to travel to the forum for the purpose of defending a lawsuit); 3) Louisiana has an interest in permitting its resident to seek redress of alleged harm; and 4) Witesses who would testify about the cables‘ performance or lack thereof are presumably mainly located in or near the forum.
