## Facts

- Hy Cite Corporation, a Wisconsin company, marketed and sold dinnerware and related products under the Royal Prestige trademark.
- Badbusinessbureau.com, L.L.C., organized under St. Kitts/Nevis law, operated the “Rip-Off Report” website, a forum where users posted consumer complaints about businesses and products.
- The website hosted tens of thousands of complaints; 30–40 concerned Hy Cite’s products.
- The site allowed businesses to post rebuttals; it screened rebuttals and charged a fee to post more than four.
- The website also sold a book, solicited donations, offered advertising, and marketed a “consumer advocacy program”; the site was accessible nationwide and was not tailored to Wisconsin.
- The operator had no offices, employees, property, or other assets in Wisconsin.
- The only identified Wisconsin-related contacts were a single book sale shipped to Wisconsin and communications with Hy Cite (initiated by Hy Cite) about possible participation in the site’s advocacy program.
- Hy Cite sued alleging, among other claims, unfair competition, false advertising, disparagement, and trademark infringement under state and federal law.

## Issues

1. Whether Wisconsin could exercise general personal jurisdiction over a foreign website operator based on an accessible, interactive website and minimal forum contacts.
2. Whether Wisconsin could exercise specific personal jurisdiction where the website contained negative posts about a Wisconsin company but the operator did not direct commercial activity or other conduct specifically toward Wisconsin.
3. Whether due process “minimum contacts” were satisfied by alleged in-forum effects (reputational or economic harm) from online postings.

## Decision

- The court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
- General jurisdiction was unavailable because the defendant lacked continuous and systematic contacts with Wisconsin; a single book sale unrelated to the claims was insufficient.
- Specific jurisdiction was unavailable because the claims did not arise from purposeful, forum-directed conduct; the site’s interactivity and nationwide accessibility did not establish Wisconsin-targeted activity.
- Because minimum contacts were not shown, exercising jurisdiction would not satisfy due process; the court did not reach the merits of Hy Cite’s substantive claims.

## Legal Principles

- Personal jurisdiction must satisfy due process: the defendant must have sufficient minimum contacts with the forum such that suit there is reasonably foreseeable.
- General jurisdiction requires continuous and systematic forum contacts; isolated, non-claim-related sales do not meet that standard.
- Specific jurisdiction requires purposeful direction of activities at the forum and a nexus between those contacts and the claims.
- An interactive website may be relevant to jurisdiction, but interactivity alone does not establish purposeful availment in every forum where the site can be accessed; courts look for additional forum-directed conduct or substantial forum transactions.
- Alleged in-forum harm from internet content, without conduct expressly aimed at the forum, does not by itself establish minimum contacts.

## Conclusion

The court dismissed the action for lack of personal jurisdiction, holding that an interactive consumer-complaint website accessible in Wisconsin did not create constitutionally sufficient contacts absent meaningful, forum-directed activity tied to the plaintiff’s claims.


Hy Cite Corp. v. Badbusinessbureau.com, L.L.C., 297 F. Supp. 2d 1154 (W.D. Wis. 2004)