Xue v. Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Sunil R. Harjani: The Court has reviewed plaintiff's motion for electronic service of process [15] and supplemental filings. If the Hague Service Convention applies, then service by email is improper because the Convention prohibits service by email in China. Kangol LLC v. Hangzhou Chuanyue Silk Imp. & Exp. Co. 177 F.4th 793, 801 (7th Cir. 2026). However, the Hague Service Convention does not apply if a defendant's address is not known. "District courts handling Schedule A cases typically require plaintiffs to make 'reasonably diligent efforts to ascertain and verify [the] defendant's mailing address' before deeming the defendant's address unknown." Id. at 799 (quoting NBA Props., Inc. v. P'ships and Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified in Schedule "A", 549 F. Supp. 3d 790, 796 (N.D. Ill. 2021)). Courts only consider efforts taken by a plaintiff before seeking leave for electronic service, and not efforts taken after a court order inquiring about the motion. See Erchonia Corp. LLC v. P'ships and Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified on Schedule A, 2026 WL 2354633, at *3 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 6, 2026); Deckers Outdoor Corp. v. A AO, 2026 WL 1802901, at *5 (N.D. Ill. June 23, 2026). Plaintiff's submissions do not reflect a reasonably diligent effort to ascertain and verify the defendant's address. Instead, the declaration submitted lists that plaintiff searched for the company name and compared it to the listed Amazon address and found that they were different. Accordingly, plaintiff's motion for electronic service of process [15] and motion for temporary restraining order [9] are denied without prejudice. Plaintiff's motions to seal [5] [13] [18] and motion for leave to file excess pages [12] are granted. A status report is due on 11/10/2026. Mailed notice

法院批准TRO

MINUTE entry before the Honorable Sunil R. Harjani: Plaintiff's motions for leave to file under seal 5 13, plaintiff's motion for temporary restraining order 9, and plaintiff's motion for leave to file excess pages 12 are entered and continued. Upon review of the complaint and the TRO submissions, the Court raises whether electronic service of process is appropriate given the Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Kangol LLC v. Hangzhou Chuanyue Silk Imp. & Exp. Co., 177 F.4th 793 (7th Cir. 2026). By 9/4/2026, plaintiff shall file supplemental evidence detailing what efforts plaintiff has taken to determine defendant's address. To the extent Plaintiff is arguing that the Hague Convention does not apply in this case, that argument must be supported with legal authority and sworn declarations of fact establishing reasonable diligence. Mailed notice

法院批准TRO