Seagate Technology v. A.J. Kogyo Company

Plaintiff Seagate Technology appeals from the order of the superior court dismissing its complaint against Tamotsu Nakata on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction.

Nakata, a Japanese citizen who resides in Japan, was, at all times relevant, the president of AJ. Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Kogyo), an established Japanese corporation. Hiroshi Tanaka (also known as Matt Taylor) had worked for Nakata in Japan. Tanaka and Nakata decided that the United States presented a market for computer-related products, and Tanaka came to California in order to set up a business to take advantage of that market: Nippon Electronic Technology (NET). Nakata, the major investor in the new corporation, became its president and major shareholder. Tanaka was named as vice-president and was issued corporate shares on the basis of his services.

Seagate Technology (Seagate) is a corporation engaged in the manufacture of “rigid” or “hard” disk drives: information storage devices used in conjunction with small computer systems. Seagate was approached by Tanaka on behalf of NET, seeking to purchase, on credit, substantial quantities of disk drives. Seagate was unwilling to extend credit to NET without…