Bensusan Restaurant Corp. v. King
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
126 F.3d 25 (1997)
Bensusan Restaurant Corporation (plaintiff) owned New York's famous Blue Note jazz club and held a trademark in the name; Richard King (defendant) owned an unrelated small cabaret also called The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri. After Bensusan's cease-and-desist letter in 1993 went nowhere, King created a website in 1996 that referenced the New York club, prompting Bensusan to sue in the Southern District of New York seeking damages. The district court dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, and Bensusan appealed.
Whether a federal court sitting in New York has personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant whose website merely mentions a New York business, under New York's long-arm statute.