Mebo International, Inc v. Shinya Yamanaka

MEMORANDUM

Dr. Rongxiang Xu and the company he founded and owned, Mebo International, Inc. (“Mebo”), sued Dr. Shinya Yamanaka (“Dr. Yamanaka”) for allegedly misusing terms and acronyms in Dr. Yamanaka’s published scientific articles — for which Dr. Yamanaka was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology — in a manner likely to deceive the public. Plaintiffs allege that this has negatively impacted Dr. Xu’s ability to obtain research grants since both doctors worked in the field of stem cell research. The district court granted Dr. Yamanaka’s anti-SLAPP motion and struck the plaintiffs’ complaint for violations of California’s unfair competition law (“UCL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200. After Dr. Xu’s recent death, only Mebo pursues this appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

1. Mebo argues on appeal that we should overturn fifteen years of circuit precedent and hold that federal courts cannot apply state anti-SLAPP motions under Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 , 58 S.Ct. 817 , 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938), and its progeny. We decline to do so. See United States ex rel. Newsham v. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., 190 F.3d 963,…