## Facts

- Bensusan Restaurant Corporation, a New York company, operates the “Blue Note” jazz club in New York City and owns a federally registered “The Blue Note” trademark.
- Richard B. King, a Missouri resident, owned and operated a Columbia, Missouri music club also called “The Blue Note,” using that name since about 1980.
- In 1996, King created a website hosted on a Missouri server providing general information about the Missouri club, including an events calendar and ticketing information.
- The site listed Missouri ticket outlets and a Missouri phone number for orders; tickets were to be picked up at the Missouri box office.
- The website was accessible from New York but included a disclaimer stating it was not affiliated with the New York “Blue Note.”
- Bensusan alleged the website’s use of the name and a similar logo infringed and diluted its mark and constituted unfair competition.
- Bensusan sued in the Southern District of New York; King moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.

## Issues

1. Whether New York had personal jurisdiction under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(2) because the website, accessible in New York, constituted a tortious act “within the state.”
2. Whether New York had personal jurisdiction under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(3)(ii) because an out-of-state tort caused injury in New York with reasonably foreseeable New York consequences and the defendant derived substantial revenue from interstate or international commerce.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction.
- Under § 302(a)(2), the alleged tortious acts occurred in Missouri, not New York; website accessibility in New York did not convert Missouri conduct into an in-state tort.
- Under § 302(a)(3)(ii), the “substantial revenue from interstate or international commerce” requirement was not satisfied because the Missouri club was predominantly local.
- Because the long-arm statute did not authorize jurisdiction, the court did not reach constitutional due process.

## Legal Principles

- A federal court determines personal jurisdiction by applying the forum state’s long-arm statute before addressing due process.
- Under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(2), jurisdiction requires the defendant’s alleged tortious act to have occurred in New York; in-state economic harm alone is insufficient.
- Under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 302(a)(3)(ii), jurisdiction requires (among other elements) that the defendant derive substantial revenue from interstate or international commerce.
- A globally accessible, primarily informational website advertising a local business, without additional New York-directed conduct and without substantial interstate revenue, does not alone create personal jurisdiction in New York under these provisions.

## Conclusion

The court held that New York’s long-arm statute did not reach a Missouri club owner whose only asserted connection to New York was a website advertising a Missouri venue and associated ticket information, where the business was predominantly local and did not derive substantial interstate revenue; the action was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.


Bensusan Rest. Corp. v. King, 126 F.3d 25 (2d Cir. 1997)