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American Type Culture Collection5/18/2000
en to show personal jurisdiction in federal court) did not show this.
Bearry v. Beech Aircraft Corp., on which ATCC next relies, is also distinguishable. In Beech, survivors of those killed in a Beech aircraft in Mississippi sued Beech in Texas on product liability theories. 818 F.2d at 372. Beech had engaged in a nationwide marketing campaign, during which nearly $250 million of its products had flowed to 17 independent Texas dealers. Id. Its representatives had occasionally visited Texas at the dealers' request. Id. at 373. Beech had also manufactured over $72 million of airframe assemblies for a Texas helicopter company (not a Beech independent dealer), with all products shipped F.O.B. Beech's facilities. Id. Additionally, Beech had bought over $195 million of goods and services from over 500 Texas vendors pursuant to contracts negotiated, and under which goods were accepted, outside Texas. Id. Nevertheless, the Beech court held that Beech did not have the systematic and continuous contacts needed to invoke general personal jurisdiction. Id. at 376.
Beech is distinguishable to the extent it was considering (1) whether the independent dealers' activities could be attributed to Beech; (2) whether Beech's relationship with those dealers could be considered; and (3) whether a "stream of commerce" theory supported jurisdiction. Those issues are not present here. It also differs because ATCC sent materials directly to Texas residents, while generally Beech sent its products through independent Texas dealers. A further distinction is that ATCC did not show that title to the Texas goods it bought regularly passed to it outside Texas (in fact, the record affirmatively shows that ATCC sometimes accepted goods shipped to it F.O.B. points in Texas). Finally, there is no indication in Beech whether Beech built its airframe assemblies for the Texas helicopter company under many, separate contracts or under a few, "on-going" contracts. See id. at 373; compare Helicopteros, 466 U.S. at 417-18; 104 S. Ct. at 1874 (considering that the training nonresident's employees received in Texas was part of a "package of goods and services" under contract with one Texas company). Here, in contrast, there was evidence ATCC's Texas sales were numerous, repetitive, discrete transactions involving many Texas buyers; and while ATCC's Texas sales were much less than the $72 million in Beech, Texas was ATCC's sixth biggest U.S. sales market.
We likewise distinguish Williams v. Wilson, on which ATCC relies. 939 F. Supp. 543 (W.D. Tex. 1995), aff'd without op., 95 F.3d 1149 (5th Cir. 1996). In Williams, a contract-breach case, the district court dismissed New York defendant Penthouse for lack of general personal jurisdiction when Penthouse had "derived monthly revenues from sales of . . . numerous products in Texas" and circulated its magazine to Texas newsstands and direct-mail subscribers, but had no presence there. Id. at 549, 551. Penthouse's only Texas contacts were its magazine and product sales. Id. at 549. The plaintiff, unlike appellees, had the burden of proof, and she made no showing how Penthouse's Texas sales compared to those in other jurisdictions. See id. Here, the record contains that evidence for U.S. sales, and it shows Texas was a significant U.S. market for ATCC.
We distinguish National Industrial Sand Association v. Gibson, on which ATCC further relies, because the nonresident association's contacts there consisted only of (1) one member company's being a Texas resident, (2) periodic mailings to the entire membership, and (3) an association representative's one-time attendance at a Texas conference. 897 S.W.2d at 774. In contrast, ATCC's contacts cannot be reduced to mere membership
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