Agreement To Accept Venue Does Not Confer Personal Jurisdiction.

A Delaware corporation with its place of business in Pennsylvania entered into a contract licensing the use of software produced by a company located in California. The contract provided that, in the event a claim arose in connection with the contract, venue could lie in Orange County, or in the jurisdiction where the software was located. The supplier sued the Delaware corporation in Orange County, California. There was no basis for personal jurisdiction in California, unless the contract constituted consent to such jurisdiction. The trial court ruled that it did. The Court of Appeal disagreed. Venue and jurisdiction are different concepts and merely because licensee consented to venue in Orange County, that consent would only be operative if the licensor established that California had jurisdiction to hear the case. Global Packaging, Inc. v. Sup.Ct. (Epicor Software Corp.) (Cal. App. Fourth Dist., Div. 3; June 30, 2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 1623, [127 Cal.Rptr.3d 813, 2011 DJDAR 9945].