Founder
Service of process is a fundamental procedural protection for defendants. Failing to secure service deprives a court of personal jurisdiction over a defendant. But Schedule A plaintiffs are not so constrained. Given the difficulty of identifying and linking foreign entities to physical addresses, federal courts have permitted plaintiffs to serve the complaint and subsequent filings via email or website. This trend has been accepted for over a decade.
But yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit just said “no.” In Smart Study Co. LTD. v. Acuteye-US, No. 24-313 (Dec. 18, 2025), the owner of several “Baby Shark” trademarks won a default judgment against dozens of Chinese companies barring them from selling or making any products resembling the marks. As part of its ruling, the district court dismissed two China-based defendants because service on them by email violated the Hague Service Convention. The Plaintiff appealed the dismissal of these two defendants. On appeal, the Second Circuit affirmed. It found that under the Hague Service Convention, the standard for how parties are served abroad, Chinese defendants cannot be served via email. The Court noted that the nation of China has objected to its residents being served by email under the rules of the Hague Convention. As such, email service does not pass muster under the Hague Convention, and the Court reversed the default judgment. This is an important development for Schedule A litigation, especially for Schedule A defendants looking to attack the Schedule A model.