TaiwanAudio
New Member
Which US court(s) [Texas State, US Federal District, or US Court of International Trade] have jurisdiction for a Breach of Contract suit against a consumer electronics manufacturer in Taiwan (value may or may not be greater than $75,000)?
There is no arbitration agreement in the contract and the UCC applies since Taiwan never ratified the CISG. I have already contacted the Taiwan government Judicial group and they have stated that the case may be tried in either Taiwan or the US. I have been reading all the US Codes (Title 28 Part IV, Texas Civil Code, etc) and they all seem to be extremely non-commital when it comes to International Jurisdiction. Since there is some likelyhood that I may never get the settlement even when I win the case (I have been told there is a tendency for Taiwan manufacturers to "hide" their assets and file for bankruptcy if they lose a case), I will be doing this Pro Se in order to keep the cost down (and legally this should be a pretty easy case). At this point, my greatest fear is to file this in the wrong court.
To assist in determining jurisdiction, the simple facts are:
1) Taiwan manufacturer contacted my company (located in Texas) via phone and e-mail to assist in the promotion/distribution of products in the US
2) I agreed to his terms (in writing) and myself and my employees performed significant work promoting his products (90% of work was performed in Texas and 10% in Nevada)
3) I purchased demo units of the products which were subsequently delivered to my store in Texas
4) Taiwan manufacturer no longer wishes to honor our agreement (potentially so they can pusue a larger US distributor for their products)
Thanks
There is no arbitration agreement in the contract and the UCC applies since Taiwan never ratified the CISG. I have already contacted the Taiwan government Judicial group and they have stated that the case may be tried in either Taiwan or the US. I have been reading all the US Codes (Title 28 Part IV, Texas Civil Code, etc) and they all seem to be extremely non-commital when it comes to International Jurisdiction. Since there is some likelyhood that I may never get the settlement even when I win the case (I have been told there is a tendency for Taiwan manufacturers to "hide" their assets and file for bankruptcy if they lose a case), I will be doing this Pro Se in order to keep the cost down (and legally this should be a pretty easy case). At this point, my greatest fear is to file this in the wrong court.
To assist in determining jurisdiction, the simple facts are:
1) Taiwan manufacturer contacted my company (located in Texas) via phone and e-mail to assist in the promotion/distribution of products in the US
2) I agreed to his terms (in writing) and myself and my employees performed significant work promoting his products (90% of work was performed in Texas and 10% in Nevada)
3) I purchased demo units of the products which were subsequently delivered to my store in Texas
4) Taiwan manufacturer no longer wishes to honor our agreement (potentially so they can pusue a larger US distributor for their products)
Thanks