throbber
Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 1 of 8 PageID #: 4100
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`MARSHALL DIVISION
`
`SEAGEN INC.,
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`DAIICHI SANKYO CO., LTD.,
`
`Defendant.
`
`CASE NO. 2:20-cv-00337-JRG
`
`
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`DEFENDANT’S SUPPLEMENTAL REPLY IN SUPPORT OF ITS
`RULE 12(B) MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION
`
`
`

`

`Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 2 of 8 PageID #: 4101
`
`
`
`As is often the case when a non-resident plaintiff files suit against a non-resident defendant
`
`over claims that have no ties to the forum, Seagen Inc. (“Seagen”) is left grasping at straws to find
`
`contacts sufficient to support the exercise of jurisdiction over Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited
`
`(“Daiichi Sankyo Japan”). As a result, Seagen points only to a smattering of contacts with Texas—
`
`most of which stem from actions by entities other than Daiichi Sankyo Japan and none of which
`
`are legally relevant to the question of personal jurisdiction. And perhaps more telling is what
`
`Seagen has been unable to identify. After briefing and discovery spanning five months, Seagen
`
`has been unable to identify any relevant direct activities by Daiichi Sankyo Japan in Texas, any
`
`sales or shipments of Enhertu® into Texas by Daiichi Sankyo Japan, or any exercise of the
`
`necessary level of control by Daiichi Sankyo Japan over non-party Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. (“Daiichi
`
`Sankyo US”), which Seagen has not shown is subject to jurisdiction in Texas in any event. In
`
`short, there is no basis to exercise personal jurisdiction here, and even if the Court had subject
`
`matter jurisdiction over this case (it does not, Dkt. Nos. 22, 69), the Complaint must be dismissed.
`
`I.
`
`DAIICHI SANKYO JAPAN HAS NO DIRECT ACTIVITIES IN TEXAS
`
`Despite robust written discovery, extensive document productions, and five depositions,
`
`Seagen is unable to point to any direct activities by Daiichi Sankyo Japan in Texas. Indeed, Daiichi
`
`Sankyo Japan is not a Texas resident, has no offices in Texas, has no employees in that state, and
`
`does not sell Enhertu® in Texas (or anywhere else in the United States). In its earlier briefing, the
`
`only “direct activities” in Texas to which Seagen pointed was Daiichi Sankyo Japan’s sponsorship
`
`of certain clinical trials and attending conferences regarding Enhertu® prior to the issuance of the
`
`patent. As the authority Daiichi Sankyo Japan cited in its earlier briefing establishes, such slight
`
`“contacts” are insufficient to confer personal jurisdiction. (See Dkt. 69, at 6 n.3.) Seagen has
`
`offered no response and does not now repeat those arguments in its supplemental opposition.
`
`Instead, Seagen now pivots to another—equally irrelevant—“contact” with Texas. This
`
`- 1 -
`
`

`

`Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 3 of 8 PageID #: 4102
`
`time, the “contact” is not even with respect to Enhertu® itself,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` And, even were manufacturing to occur in the future, it could not give rise to any claim
`
`of infringement of the ’039 Patent. Rather, the infringement claims regarding Enhertu® arise only
`
`because Enhertu® is an antibody-drug conjugate (“ADC”). ADCs are “specialized cancer
`
`treatments that use a ‘linker’ to attach (or ‘conjugate’) chemotherapeutic drugs to an antibody.”
`
`Compl. ¶ 2. As Seagen admits, the “claims of the ’039 patent cover ADCs with linkers.” Id. ¶
`
`18.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` Bristol-Myers Squibb
`
`Co. v. Superior Court, 137 S. Ct. 1773, 1778, 1780 (2017) (dispute must stem from jurisdictional
`
`contacts).2
`
`II.
`
`THERE IS NO JURISDICTION UNDER A STREAM OF COMMERCE THEORY
`
`Seagen’s supplemental opposition makes much of the fact that third-party distributors sell
`
`Enhertu® in Texas—a fact Daiichi Sankyo Japan has never denied. But the sales figures provided
`
`by Seagen (which, contrary to Seagen’s insinuations, do not reflect the revenue Daiichi Sankyo
`
`Japan receives for the sales of Enhertu®) do not reveal any particular sales or advertising focus
`
`
`1 For this reason, SGI’s reliance on Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462 (1985), is
`misplaced. There, the negotiations at issue were for the very franchise agreement from which the
`franchise dispute arose. Not so here,
`
` and which, standing alone, cannot and does not infringe Seagen’s asserted patent.
`
`2
`
`
`
`- 2 -
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 4 of 8 PageID #: 4103
`
`
`
`specific to Texas. (Dkt. 99, at 1-2 & Ex. 30 (showing sales to all fifty states).) Rather,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` The mere fact that Enhertu® is sold nationwide, including in
`
`Texas, is insufficient to establish jurisdiction under a stream-of-commerce theory. See, e.g., Dkt.
`
`69, at 5-7 (citing Bristol-Myers Squibb, 137 S. Ct. at 1775, 1782 (finding no personal jurisdiction
`
`even though product was sold in forum as part of a nationwide sales effort)).
`
`Similarly misplaced is Seagen’s renewed focus on who imports Enhertu® into the United
`
`States. As Daiichi Sankyo Japan explained in its prior briefing, the produced U.S. Customs Forms
`
`show that
`
`event, regardless of who
`
`
`
`
`
` In any
`
`
`
` that says nothing about any relevant contacts with Texas. It is
`
`undisputed that Daiichi Sankyo Japan does not ship Enhertu® directly into Texas. Nor, for that
`
`matter, does non-party Daiichi Sankyo US.
`
`
`
` (See 6/4/21 Declaration of Preston K. Ratliff II (“Ratliff Decl.”) Ex. 10.)5
`
`This stands in stark contrast to the Polar Electro and Semcon cases to which Seagen tries to
`
`analogize this case; in both those cases (unlike here), the defendant shipped the product directly
`
`into the forum state. Polar Electro Oy v. Suunto Oy, 829 F.3d 1343, 1345 (Fed. Cir. 2016); Semcon
`
`
`3
`is the second-most populous state,
`popclock/; see also Dkt. 99, at 1-2 & Ex. 30.
`
`4 For clarity, Daiichi Sankyo Japan ships
` (See Ratliff Decl. Ex. 11 at 7; see also id. Ex. 12.) Daiichi Sankyo US is
` selling Enhertu® within the United States.
`
` Texas
` See, e.g., https://www.census.gov/
`
`then responsible for
`5
`
`
`
` (See Ratliff Decl. Ex. 11.)
`
`
`
`- 3 -
`
`

`

`Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 5 of 8 PageID #: 4104
`
`
`
`IP Inc. v. TCT Mobile Int’l Ltd., No. 2:18-CV-00194-JRG (E.D. Tex. July 2, 2019).
`
`III. THERE IS NO JURISDICTION BASED ON AN AGENCY THEORY
`Seagen devotes considerable space to an incorrect argument that Daiichi Sankyo US is an
`
`agent of Daiichi Sankyo Japan. This is untrue, but even if that were the case, Seagen fails to take
`
`the next step to establish that non-party Daiichi Sankyo US would be subject to personal
`
`jurisdiction in Texas. (See Dkt. 22, at 19.) It would not. It is undisputed that Daiichi Sankyo US
`
`is not a Texas entity and has no offices in that state.
`
`
`
` (See Ratliff Decl. Ex. 11, at 17; see also id. Ex. 10.) All Seagen has
`
`been able to point to is that
`
`
`
` (Id. Ex. 11, at 25.) But that alone is
`
`insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction. Cf. Bristol-Myers, 137 S. Ct. at 1778 (no personal
`
`jurisdiction in forum despite the fact that BMS had 250 sales representatives in the forum state, as
`
`well as five research and laboratory facilities).
`
`Moreover, none of the facts to which Seagen points demonstrates that Daiichi Sankyo
`
`Japan controls non-party Daiichi Sankyo US in a way that “pervade[s] [Daiichi Sankyo US’s]
`
`dealings with the forum.” Fellowship Filtering Techs., LLC v. Alibaba.com, Inc., No. 15-CV-
`
`02049-JRG, 2016 WL 6917272, at *2 (E.D. Tex. Sept. 1, 2016) (emphasis added). Rather, Seagen
`
`points only to facts regarding Daiichi Sankyo Japan’s oversight of the global efforts of its various
`
`affiliates. That global oversight, however, is fundamentally different from controlling non-party
`
`Daiichi Sankyo US’s efforts regarding sales of Enhertu® in the United States, let alone in Texas.
`
`For example,
`
`
`
`
`
` (Dkt. 99, at 3; see also
`
`Ratliff Decl. Ex. 13, at 264:5-10, 264:20-265:8.) Seagen also argues that Daiichi Sankyo US’s
`
`- 4 -
`
`

`

`Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 6 of 8 PageID #: 4105
`
`
`
`supply chain unit is led by a Daiichi Sankyo Japan employee;
`
`
`
`14, at 296:22-25.) This reporting structure says nothing about Daiichi Sankyo Japan’s supposed
`
`
`
` (See Ratliff Decl. Ex.
`
`control of non-party Daiichi Sankyo US’s dealings with Texas. To the contrary,
`
` (Dkt. 69, at 8-9 (citing testimony).)6
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` is a far cry from the type of pervasive control necessary under an agency theory.
`
`Fellowship, 2016 WL 6917272, at *2, *4 (no agency between parent and subsidiary even though
`
`the entities “shared the same controlling member” and the parent “maintained approval authority”
`
`over certain acts of the subsidiary).
`
`IV.
`
`SGI RAISES NO NEW ADDITIONAL ARGUMENTS
`
`Seagen repeats its prior arguments as to indirect infringement as well as under Rule 4(k)(2),
`
`but makes no new arguments and cites no new facts. These arguments fail for all the reasons set
`
`forth in Daiichi Sankyo Japan’s prior briefing. (See Dkt. 22, at 19-20; Dkt. 69, at 7-8, 10.)
`
`Daiichi Sankyo Japan respectfully requests dismissal of the Complaint without prejudice.
`
`CONCLUSION
`
`
`6 Seagen also argues there is “comingling of corporate roles,” Dkt. 99, at 4,
`
` This is insufficient. See, e.g., Fellowship, 2016 WL 6917272 (finding imputation
`improper even where there is 100% stock ownership and “identity of directors and officers”).
`
`- 5 -
`
`

`

`Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 7 of 8 PageID #: 4106
`
`
`
`Dated: June 4, 2021
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`
`
`/s/ Deron R. Dacus
`
`Deron R. Dacus
`State Bar No. 00790553
`The Dacus Firm, P.C.
`821 ESE Loop 323, Suite 430
`Tyler, Texas, 75701
`+1 (903) 705-1117
`+1 (903) 581-2543 facsimile
`ddacus@dacusfirm.com
`
`J. Mark Mann
`State Bar No. 12926150
`mark@themannfirm.com
`MANN | TINDEL | THOMPSON
`300 West Main Street
`Henderson, Texas 75652
`(903) 657-8540
`(903) 657-6003 (fax)
`
`Attorneys for Defendant Daiichi
`Sankyo, Company, Limited
`
`OF COUNSEL:
`
`Preston K. Ratliff II
`Joseph M. O’Malley, Jr.
`Ashley N. Mays-Williams
`Paul Hastings LLP
`200 Park Avenue
`New York, NY 10166
`(212) 318-6000
`
`Attorneys for Defendant Daiichi
`Sankyo, Company, Limited
`
`- 6 -
`
`

`

`Case 2:20-cv-00337-JRG Document 110 Filed 06/09/21 Page 8 of 8 PageID #: 4107
`
`FILED UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`The undersigned hereby certifies that all counsel of record who have consented to
`
`electronic service are being served with a copy of this document via electronic mail on June 4,
`
`2021. I also hereby certify that all counsel of record who have consented to electronic service are
`
`being served with a notice of filing of this document, under seal, pursuant to L.R. CV-5(a)(7) on
`
`June 4, 2021.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`/s/ Preston K. Ratliff II
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket