Weissenbach

Plaintiff Integral Development Corporation, a California corporation, filed this lawsuit against Helmut Weissenbach, a German citizen hired by plaintiff to manage its German subsidiary. The complaint contained various tort claims centering around allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition. Weissenbach made a special appearance and brought a motion to quash service of summons.on grounds that there were not sufficient contacts with California to support the assertion of personal jurisdiction over him. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the case. For the reasons explained below, we find that the assertion of jurisdiction in the circumstances of this case is fair and reasonable. We therefore reverse the trial court’s order.

Background

Integral Development Corporation (Integral, or Integral-California) is a California corporation, with its principal place of business in Mountain View, California. In 1996, Integral formed Integral Development Corporation (Europe) Ltd. (Integral-U.K.), to support its European operations. Integral-U.K. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Integral-California. Defendant Helmut Weissenbach is a German…