Zhejiang Ledison Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. v. THE INDIVIDUALS, CORPORATIONS, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANIES, PARTNERSHIPS AND UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS IDENTIFIED IN SCHEDULE A HERETO

MINUTE entry before the Honorable John J. Tharp, Jr: The plaintiff's request for entry of default [24] is granted with respect to defendants 2,4,5,6,7, and 9 (the "mainland China" defendants) and denied without prejudice as to Defendant No. 8, located in Hong Kong. With respect to the mainland China defendants, Plaintiff has established that the Hague Convention does not apply. The plaintiff made "reasonably diligent efforts to ascertain and verify [the defendants'] mailing address[es]," and was unable to do so. Kangol LLC v. Hangzhou Chuanyue Silk Import & Export Co., 177 F.4th 793, 799 (7th Cir. 2026) (quoting NBA Props., Inc. v. P'ships & Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified in Schedule A, 549 F. Supp. 3d 790, 796 (N.D. Ill. 2021)). With respect to defendant No. 8, the Court requires further briefing from the plaintiff on the issue of whether email service suffices as to this defendant. The Court acknowledges that Hong Kong has not objected to Article 10(a) of the Hague Convention allowing transmission of judicial documents through "postal channels." The plaintiff relies on a single district court case, Poseidon Technology Limited v. Joygame Studio Limited, No. 1:26-cv-06831, Minute Entry, ECF No. 23 (N.D. Ill. July 1, 2026), to establish that email is a "postal channel," but this issue is undecided within the Seventh Circuit. The Court further notes that, unlike the plaintiff is the cited case, the plaintiff here sought relief only under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(f)(3) (ECF No. 9), not Rule 4(f)(1), and so the plaintiff should brief the issue in connection with a motion for leave to effect alternate service on Defendant No. 8 under Rule 4(f)(1), regardless of the fact the plaintiff already went ahead with service. Mailed notice