Pebble Beach case limits Internet personal jurisdiction

The owner of the Pebble Beach bed and breakfast in southern England won't have to defend himself in California against a trademark infringement claim by -- who else -- Pebble Beach golf course.  That's the result the Ninth Circuit reached yesterday in Pebble Beach Co. v. Caddy. For nearly a decade courts have struggled with whether a party can be haled into a court far from home simply as a result of its presence on the Internet.  In this case, the court easily concluded that operating a web site at www.pebblebeach-uk.com wasn't sufficient to create personal jurisdiction halfway across the world.