ion was later overturned, it underscores the difficulty and confusion of multi-party and multi-national litigation in the Digital Age. Equally problematic is the issue of enforcing judgments on a global scale. “Although U.S. courts have traditionally been quite liberal in recognizing and enforcing foreign judgments (i.e., so long as there are no serious due process violations), U.S. judgments have not received similar treatment in foreign jurisdictions.” [NOTE 3]. The Brussels Convention and the Lugano Convention provide for the enforcement of judgments within European Union countries. [NOTE 4]. However, the United States is not a party to these agreements and must rely on individual countries’ laws for recognition and enforcement of judgments which are often quite restrictive. [NOTE 5]. II. Attempts at a solution. At the suggestion of the United States, the Hague Conference on Private International Law agreed in May 1993 to begin work on a jurisdiction and judgments convention. [NOTE 6]. In October of 1999, the Convention released a preliminary draft outlining methods to combat international jurisdiction and enforcement problems. [NOTE 7]. Article 3 of the Convention confers general jurisdiction over a defendant in a State where he is “habitually resident” and then defines that term. This effectively eliminates the need for the “minimum contacts” test. Article 12(4) confers exclusive jurisdiction in the case of patents, trademarks, and trade dress to those states in which the holders of such rights have applied for or obtained registration. This section does not apply to Copyrights even though copyright registration is possible. As it reads currently, this section does not apply to revocation or infringement actions, only objections to the registration, validity or nullity of the rights, though “infringement” and “revocation” are bracketed for future discussion. These wo...
