Case

Several new decisions have come down in the last couple of weeks involving the applicability of section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ("Section 230").  Section 230 provides online service providers with immunity from certain types of claims arising from the publication of information provided by a third party.  However, if the service provider takes an active role in the development of the third-party content, it may lose the protection of Section 230.  These cases provide some additional guidance as to where the line is regarding too much involvement with the content.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) recently sued Darba Enterprises, Inc. for using the AAA mark in its domain name, on its website, and in pay-per-click advertisements.  Darba moved to dismiss the claim based on lack of personal jurisdiction; however, the court held that by maintaining a commercial website, Darba reached beyond its home state of Nevada to purposefully avail itself of the benefits of the California forum.  The American Automobile Association Inc. v. Darba Enterprises, Inc., No. C-09-00510 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 21, 2009).

New Zealand
Foreign
New Zealand Company that had registered and offered for sale domain names incorporating the registered trademarks of several famous companies agreed to a permanent injunction bar it from using the names; however, the scope of the ruling did not reach many other famous names still held by the company.

Civil Action 94C7195 (N.D. Ill.)
Federal
Challenge to registration of domain name "knowledgenet.com" naming NSI as a defendant; subsequently settled without opinion.

No. CV 95-13874 (Sup. Ct., Phoenix AZ)
Unknown
Challenge to registration of domain name "novastar.com" under common law trademark theory, where neither party owns trademark registration.

Claim No. FA0508000550345 (NAF Oct. 25, 2005)
Panelist for the National Arbitration Forum ruled that use of the domain name "homedepotsucks.com" for a non-commercial informational site does not infringe on the "Home Depot" trademark.

403 F.3d 672 (9th Cir. 2005)
Federal appeals court held "that the noncommercial use of a trademark as the domain name of a website--the subject of which is consumer commentary about the products and services represented by the mark--does not constitute infringement under the Lanham Act." Bosley sued a dissatisfied former client, Kremer, who had registered the domain name www.bosleymedical.com and posted information highly critical of Bosley on a website using that address.

No. 2:03-cv-04269-R-VBK, Doc. 125 (C.D. Cal. final judgment Jul. 7, 2004)
Federal district court entered $4 million judgment against spammer that misrepresented himself as being associated with Microsoft's Windows Update service. Khoshnood sent spam email directing recipients to www.

(2004) 6 SCC 145 (Supreme Court, India)
Supreme Court of India held that Internet domain names can serve as a business identity, thus giving them protection similar to a trademark under India's Trade Marks Act (1999), which prohibits the use of similar names that could confuse consumers. Satyam registered several domain names in 1999 that included variations off the term "SIFY" (derived from letters in "Satyam Infoway"), such as sify.

337 F.3d 1024 (9th Cir. 2003)
Federal Circuit
Kremen had registered the Internet domain name "sex.com" in 1994. Subsequently, Network Solutions transferred the domain to another individual claiming to have Kremen's authorization, which he did not.

No. 01-15899 (9th Cir. 2003)
Federal
The Ninth Circuit has requested the California Supreme Court to review several questions raised in a dispute over the sex.com domain name.

WIPO Case No. D2002-0301 (May 15, 2002)
WIPO
A WIPO Administraive Panel ruled that mere registration of a domain name without posting any content to the site does not constitute bad faith. Ingram Micro submitted a complaint against Ingredients Among Modern Microwaves for registering the domain name.

No. 00-CV-874 (N.D.N.Y. 2002)
Federal
A federal court ruled on jurisidction under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 15 USC Sec 1125(d). A former employee of the newspaper Indian Country Today registered indiancountrytoday.

WIPO Case No. D2001-1500
WIPO
A WIPO administrative panel ruled that the City of Heidelberg does not have trademark rights to the name Heidelberg. The panel refused to order the US defendant to transfer the name to the city, despite an order issued by a German court that directed the name be relinquished.

177 F. Supp. 2d 661 (E.D. Mich. 2001)
Federal
The defendants, 2600 Enterprises, registered the domain name "fuckgeneralmotors.com." The site automatically linked to the plaintiff's website, ford.

2001 U.S. Dist LEXIS 13885 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)
Federal
Mattel filed suit and moved for summary judgment on its claims relating to the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). The defendant had registered the domain names "barbiesbeachwear.

2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5262 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)
Federal
Mattel filed an action under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) to enforce its trademark and certain second level Internet domain names. One defendant, captainbarbie.

2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 19028 (4th Cir. 2001)
Federal
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision finding the defendant liable for trademark infringement and cybersquatting. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued Michael Doughney for registering the domain name peta.

273 F.3d 14 (1st Cir. 2001)
Federal
The 1st Circuit reversed a lower court decision, ruling that a US court, applying the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), may overturn an ICAAN UDRP decision. A WIPO panel ruled that the domain name corinthians.

(W.D. Wash. 2001)
Federal
A federal district court ordered 48 domain names be returned to Nintendo in a domain name infringement suit. In addition, the court awarded the company statutory damages of $560,000.

WIPO Case No. D2001-1121(2001)
WIPO
A WIPO panel ordered the domain name vivendiuniversalsucks.com to be transferred to Vivendi. Sallen registered the domain name vivendiuniversalsucks.

Tribunale de Grande Instance de Nanterre (France 2001)
Foreign
The court decided that the domain name registrar 7 Ways was not contributorily liable for trademark infringement. ANPE sued the domain name registrar 7 Ways for contributory trademark infringement for registering a domain name that allegedly infringed upon ANPE's trademark.

Regional Court (Pilzen, Czechoslovakia, 2001)
Foreign
A Czech court recently issued an injuction in a domain name dispute. Quilt SRO is a company that trades in textile products, and the registered owner of the trademark QUILT.

755 N.E.2d 589 (Ind. 2001)
IN
The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that prohibited a former University of Evansville professor from creating websites that contained the names of university officers and faculty. While upholding the injunction, the court also found that the university itself, as a corporate entity, was not entitled to an invasion of privacy claim.

162 F. Supp. 2d 484 (E.D. Va. 2001)
Federal
Cable News Network (CNN) filed an in rem action against defendant domain name and company, alleging a claim under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). CNN sued Maya Online Broadband Network, a chinese company, for using the domain name CNNews.

254 F.3d 476 (3d Cir. 2001)
Federal
The 3d Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that found John Zuccarini liable for violating the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). Plaintiff Shields sued Zuccarini for registering 5 domain names that had minor spelling variations of Shields' website.

139 F. Supp. 2d 745 (E.D. Va. 2001)
Federal
A federal court determined that a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) administrative panel is not considered arbitration for purposes of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The UDRP panel issued a split decision in NetLearning's favor concerning the use of an Internet domain name.

141 F. Supp. 2d 648 (N.D. Tex. 2001)
Federal
Lockheed Martin Corporation brought this action against Network Solutions, a domain name register, under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) and the Texas trademark anti-dilution statute. The US District Court for Northern Texas found that the ACPA did not apply to domain name registry services.

WIPO Case No. D2000-1791 (March 23, 2001)
WIPO
This domain name action is based upon the trademark SANKYO. It is a registered mark currently being used in Japan, China, the U.S.A. and other countries

129 F. Supp. 2d 1033 (S.D. Tex. 2001)
Federal
Spider Webs, which registered the domain ernestandjuliogallo.com, has been enjoined from using the domain and been ordered to pay damages of $25,000 to E & J Gallo Winery even though Gallo could not show it had lost any sales as a result.

138 F. Supp. 2d 121 (D. Mass. 2001)
Federal
A federal court dismissed a domain name dispute for lack of jurisdiction under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). FleetBoston Financial filed suit in federal court in Massachusetts against the Brazilian owner of the Internet domain name www.fleetbostonfinancial.com.

136 F. Supp. 2d 531(E.D. Va. 2001)
Federal
Hartog & Co, a Norwegian company, brought this action under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), 15 U.S.C. Sec.

WIPO Case No. D2000-1532 (2001)
WIPO
WIPO arbitrators in Geneva have found that Bruce Springsteen does not have rights in the domain "brucespringsteen.com," which was lawfully registered by the Bruce Springsteen Club.

WIPO Docket No. D2000-1015 (2001)
WIPO
Lockheed Martin Corporation filed a complaint with the WIPO to revoke registration rights of "lockheedsucks.com" and "lockheedmartinsucks.

Unknown (1999)
Federal
Etoy.com, an international Internet artists corporation based in Switzerland, has filed trademark infringement and domain name actions against the electronic commerce toyshop eToys.

No. 00-1356 (4th Cir. 2001)
Federal
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that Virtual Works violated the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). The court found that the defendant had registered the domain name vw.net in bad faith.

119 F. Supp. 2d 289 (E.D.N.Y. 2000).
Federal
In granting summary judgment to defendant Network Solutions, U.S. District Judge David Trager held that a domain name register that refuses to grant domain names because they include obscene words can not be sued for civil rights violations.

2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15719 (E.D. Pa. 2000)
PA
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania awarded the largest statutory award to date under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999. The defendant, who was ordered to pay $530,000 in damages and attorney's fees, earned up to $1 million dollars per year by registering domain names based on mispelled web sites that lured users into "mousetraps" with multiple advertising windows.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0996 (2000)
WIPO
A WIPO administrative panel ruled that a domain name should be transferred to the trademark owner. Zuccarini registered a number of "sucks" domain names, including guiness-really-sucks.

Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court (China, Oct. 9, 2000)
Foreign
The Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court ruled that the defendant's safeguard.com.cn web site violates China's Trademark Law and Law Against Unfair Competition.

119 F. Supp. 2d 309 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)
Federal
Plaintiff brought this cybersquatting, trademark infringement and defamation action after defendant posted web sites criticizing the plaintiff and her business practices. Embedded in the web sites were metatags incorporating the plaintiff's trademark name.

2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14333 (D. Min., Sept. 25, 2000)
Federal
The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota refused an injunction and held that defendant's use of the northlandinsurance.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0662 (2000)
WIPO
A WIPO panel ruled that the domain name walmartsucks.com should be transferred to Wal-Mart. Richard MacLeod registered the domain name walmartsucks.

99 F. Supp. 2d 1168 (N.D. Cal. 2000)
Federal
Plaintiffs brought this conversion action following the transfer of the sex.com domain name from the plaintiff to the defendant. The transfer allegedly occurred after the defendant forged a written request to Network Soutions.

WIPO Case No. D20000-0265 (June 16, 2000)
WIPO
In a domain name dispute regarding buyvaurnetsunglasses.com, WIPO ruled that an admittedly infringing name adopted in bath faith cannot be cancelled or transferred unless the name has actually been used by its registrant.

110 F. Supp. 2d 420 (E.D. Va. 2000)
Federal
Harrods brought an in rem action under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) alleging that 60 domain names containing the word "Harrods" infringed and diluted plaintiff's trademarks. In granting the defendant's motion to dismiss, the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that relief was not available against domain name owners because the court was limited to in rem jurisdiction over the domain names.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0505 (Aug. 4, 2000).
WIPO
WIPO ordered that the barcelona.com domain name be transferred to complainant, City Government of Barcelona due to the respondent's bad faith.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0364 (Aug. 2, 2000)
WIPO
WIPO granted the transfer of the jimihendrix.com domain name to Experience Hendrix, the owner of substantially all rights relating to Jimi Hendrix.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0477 (2000)
WIPO
A WIPO panel ruled that disputed domiain names should be transferred to the trademark owner. Respondent registered the domain names "walmartcanadasucks.

221 F. 3d 834 (6th Cir. 2000)
Federal
Publisher of maverick alternative newspaper filed suit against local city government to obtain copies of cookie files from city computers. Publisher also sued to have the city link publisher's Web site to city's Web site, based on First Amendment--public forum jurisprudence.

2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10232 (E.D. Va., July 13, 2000)
Federal
In a trademark and trade name dispute, the ruled that a California defendant who registered an allegedly infringing domain name with NSI (located in the forum state) was not subject to jurisdiction on that basis alone. The court noted that registration agreements are not sufficiently related to the forum state and the exercise of jurisdiction based on defendant's brief and limited contacts with NSI over the Internet would offend notions of due process.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0409 ( 2000)
WIPO
WIPO held that Web developer Fuji Publishing has a fair claim to the Fuji.com domain name. WIPO noted that Fuji Publishing has been operating under the name since 1992.

Filed C.A. No. 00-1018-A (E.D. Va. 2000)
Federal
The International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 filed suit against more than 1,800 web site operators that are allegedly profiting from the Olympics and its related trademarks. Under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, the plaintiffs seek to transfer the infringing domain names or to shut down the primarily cybersquatting, gambling, or pornographic related sites.

2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9474 (E.D. Va., June 12, 1000)
Federal
In a trademark infringement action, the Eastern District of Virginia ordered defendant to relinquish his peta.org domain name to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

S.D.N.Y., filed June 7, 2000
Federal
In a suit mirroring RIAA v. Napster, TVT Records, one of the largest independent record labels in the U.S. alleges copyright violations against Napster.

No. T-1163-99 (Fed. Ct., June 1, 2000)
Foreign
The court refused to grant an interlocutory injunction barring the defendants from using, displaying or advertising the trademarks toronto2.com, toronto.

Case No. D2000-0235 (WIPO, May 22, 2000)
WIPO
Plaintiff filed this trademark action following the defendant's registration of 130 domain names based on the names of authors, including the plaintiff's. The court held an author has a common law right in his/her name qualifying as a trademark right under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy.

Case No. D2000-0187 (WIPO, May 11, 2000)
WIPO
WIPO found that a domain name registrant assents to be bound by the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy by maintaining a domain name registration after the adoption of the Policy. The panel also found that although several of the defendant's domain names incorporating the phrase "Weber grill" were confusingly similar to the plaintiff's "Weber" trademark, the plaintiff failed to show that the domain names were registered in bad faith as well as Armitage's lack of a legitimate interest in the names.

95 F. Supp. 2d 528 (E.D. Va. 2000)
Federal
Lucent sought to proceed in rem against domain name allegedly containing pornographic images, using in rem provisions of Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The court held that because Lucent had located the owner of the site, and could have exercised in personam jurisdiction, the in rem provisions of the Act did not apply and in rem jurisdiction was not proper.

94 F. Supp. 2d 457 (D. Colo. 2000)
Federal
The law firm of Morrison and Foerster alleged that the defendant's registration of www.morrisonfoerster.com and similar domain names violates the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).

FA0093763 (NAF, Apr. 13, 2000)
NAF
In a case against the owner of esquire.com, The National Arbitration Forum (NAF) found the name confusingly similar to Hearst's Esquire magazine trademark.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0069 (Apr. 3, 2000)
WIPO
In a domain name transfer action, Infospace.com alleged that Blanck was infringing on the Infospace trademark by registering the domain name wwwinfospaces.

97 F. Supp. 2d 96 (D. Mass. 2000)
Federal
Operators of the northernlight.com search engine accuse defendant registrants of northernlights.com of trademark infringement, cyberpirating and unfair competition.

89 F. Supp. 2d 464 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)
Federal
Cello Holdings alleges trademark dilution and infringement based on the defendant's registration of the domain name "cello.com." A federal district court judge for the Southern District of New York denied summary judgment to both Cello Holdings and Lawrence-Dahl.

United Kingdom High Court, March 27, 2000
Foreign
Court awarded Cosmopolitan magazine £4000 from cybersquatter who threatened to sell domain name cosmopolitan.co.uk to pornographers if magazine didn't buy the name first.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0016 (Mar. 24, 2000)
WIPO
Allocation, a German corporation, brought a domain name transfer action with WIPO against Gregory, a resident of the Philippines. Gregory registered allocation.

89 F. Supp. 2d 1154 (C.D. Cal. 2000).
Federal
In a trademark dilution and infringement case, Nissan Motor requested a preliminary injunction blocking Nissan Computer from placing advertisements and links on its nissan.com and nissan.

WIPO Case No. D2000-0021 (Mar. 9, 2000)
WIPO
Ingersoll-Rand Co. brought a domain name transfer action against the registrant of the domain names ingersoll-rand.net, ingersoll-rand.

2000 US Dist. LEXIS 2671 (E.D. Va. March 3, 2000)
Federal
Plaintiffs sought in rem jurisdiction over domain names under Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Defendants argued that in rem provisions of Act were unconstitutional.

2000 U.S. Dist.. LEXIS 2670 (E.D. Va. Feb. 24, 2000)
Federal
Court ruled that Virtual Works infringed and diluted Volkswagen's trademark and violated federal anti-cybersquatting statute by using VW.net domain name.

S.D.N.Y. Jan. 7, 2000
Federal
Alleged cybersquatter agreed to surrender domain name www.msdwonline.com sought by Morgan Stanley for its new online trading service.

1999 U.S. Dist.. LEXIS 20999 (N.D. Cal., Dec. 8, 1999)
Federal
Parties settled case involving application of U.S. cybersquatting law to foreign nationals. Defendants registered trademarked America's Cup name in ".

D. Mass., filed Dec. 6, 1999
Federal
Harvard University sued alleged cybersquatters under recently-enacted federal anti-cybersquatting legislation. Defendants registered 65 domain names incorporating the words Harvard and Radcliffe, and offered to sell them to the university before making them available to the general public.

71 F. Supp. 2d 500 (D. Md. 1999)
Federal
Defendant registered hatfield.com for use as email address. Plaintiff's alleged infringement and dilution of their "Hatfield" mark.

79 F. Supp. 2d 331 (S.D.N.Y. 1999)
Federal
Court found that initial interest confusion existed where defendant used plaintiff's acronym in its domain name and metatags in its web site. Defendant established nysscpa.

Settled out of court (Australia, 1999)
Foreign
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission alerted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to a counterfeit domain name operation being operated out of Australia.

Los Angeles Sup. Ct., Nov. 29, 1999
CA
Court ordered protest-oriented artists' site to stop using etoy.com domain name, after online toy retailer claimed it was infringing trademark and causing confusion.

Filed (D. Ohio 1999)
Federal
Wendy's sued alleged cybersquatter and his company, alleging that they registered domain names such as www.wendysrestaurant.com and attempted to sell them to Wendy's.

66 F. Supp. 2d 117 (D. Mass. 1999)
Federal
Hasbro, owner of trademark "Clue" for board game, sued holder of clue.com domain name under federal trademark dilution statute. Nationwide solicitation and encouragement of business contacts via a Web site was sufficient to sustain forum state's personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendant in trademark infringement action arising from defendant's use of allegedly infringing domain name "clue."

60 F. Supp. 2d 558 (E.D. Va. 1999)
Federal
Plaintiff sought to have defendant's domain name transferred to satisfy earlier judgment for money damages. Court directed plaintiff to seek redress through registrar's dispute resolution policy, delaying judgment on whether domain name could be subject to lien

189 F.3d 868 (9th Cir. 1999)
Federal
Plaintiff, maker of adhesive labels, held trademarks for "avery" and "denison." Defendant registered avery.com and denison.com in order to sell domain names for email addresses (presumably to persons whose surnames matched domain names).

33 F. Supp. 2d 488 (E.D. Va. 1999)
Federal
Plaintiff, the owner of the unregistered trademark, WASHINGTON SPEAKERS BUREAU, sued the defendant, a competitor, alleging Lanham Act 43(a) violations and trademark dilution for registering domain names based upon variations of the plaintiff's trademark, such as washingtonspeakers.com.

1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20605 (S.D. Ind., May 7, 1999)
Unknown
Federal judge dismissed antitrust suit against NSI. Plaintiff alleged that NSI committed antitrust violation by refusing to grant him a previously registered domain name.

1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6080 (E.D. Pa. 1999)
Federal
District court ordered that defendant's registration of worldsports.com be revoked, and also ordered that NSI not allow anyone to register a similar name.

174 F.3d 1036 (9th Cir. 1999)
Federal
Defendant's registration of domain name did not make it senior user of trademark; its first use date was determined by the date it made a public announcement of the launch of its web site. The court also ordered the defendant to cease using the plaintiff's registered mark "moviebuff" in its meta tags, though it could use "movie buff" (with a space between the two words).

C.D. Cal. filed 4/13/99
Federal
Typosquatter lawsuit. In a trademark infringement action, plaintiffs allege that defendants registered names such as "misrosoft."

C.D. Cal., 99-02816 SVW (Amended complaint filed April 12, 1999)
Federal
Organization sued NSI alleging its refusal to allow the use of offensive words violates First Amendment, because NSI operates under authority of the Commerce Department. Amended complain added ICANN as defendant.

1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6552 (E.D. Va. 1999)
Unknown
Typosquatter Suit. In a trademark infringement and tarnishment action, the court granted a preliminary injunction against defendant who linked the address "wwwpainewebber.

1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2997 (S.D.N.Y. 1999)
Federal
Defendant, the private company that has handled domain name registrations since 1993, is entitled to antitrust immunity under the federal instrumentality doctrine. The court held that under the Cooperative Agreement between NSI and the National Science Foundation, NSI was acting in compliance with clearly articulated government policies or programs and was therefore immunized from antitrust liability to the same extent as the government entity.

38 F. Supp. 2d 1320 (D. Utah 1999)
Federal
Personal jurisdiction was proper in Utah over Florida defendants who used their Web site to solicit business from a Utah resident and also attempted to obtain a cash settlement from the Utah-based plaintiff in exchange for relinquishing the domain name to the plaintiff.

C. D. Cal., No. CV 98-7315 DDP (RZx) (March 3, 1999)
Federal
Cybersquatter case wherein a court found jurisdiction in California for suit against Colorado-based defendant that registered domain names similar to plaintiff's name. Rinkeid had no presence in California sufficient to create general jurisdiction, but court found adequate basis for special jurisdiction under Panavision Int'l v. Toeppen.

1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7010 (N.D. Ill. 1999)
Federal
Plaintiff, owner of various trademarks and domain names centered around its Beanie Babies products, alleged that the defendant, not a Ty authorized dealer, registered "beaniebaby.com" and sold Beanie Babies products through its Web site.

1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1934 (E.D.Pa. 1999)
Federal
In a trademark infringement action arising out of defendant's domain name registration for "colorworks.com", personal jurisdiction was improper over a Canadian defendant in Pennsylvania because the defendant only operated a "passive" Web site.

36 F. Supp. 2d 436 (D. Mass. 1999)
Federal
Plaintiff, owner of the federally registered trademark ENERGYPLACE was entitled to a preliminary injunction against defendant's use of the mark and use of the domain name "energyplace.com".

34 F. Supp. 2d 1145 (E.D. Mo. 1999)
Federal
In a trademark infringement action, personal jurisdiction over an out of state Web site operator was proper in Missouri based upon the plaintiff's Lanham Act claims which, if proven, would constitute a "commission of a tortious act within the state". Due process was also satisfied because the Web site itself was "active", based upon its hyperlinks to adult entertainment sites which provide information, solicits memberships, and sells adult entertainment products and services, and therefore was sufficient for the court to find that defendant availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities in Missouri.

35 F. Supp. 2d 507 (E.D. La. 1999)
Federal
In a trademark infringement action, personal jurisdiction was improper over an Illinois corporation in Louisiana based upon its Web site and domain name. Plaintiff had an exclusive license to use the federally registered mark ROCK 'N' BOWL in a limited geographic area around Louisiana.

1999 Va. Cir. LEXIS 1 (Cir. Ct. 1999)
VA
Domain names are property and may be judicially disposed of as such. Umbro International sued 3263851 Canada, Inc. for infringement when defendant registered domain name umbro.

No. 98-04245 (S.D. Tex., filed De. 21, 1998)
Federal
Defendants registered and offered to sell to plaintiff several domain names incorporating plaintiff's trademarks. Plaintiff filed suit against the alleged cybersquatter, alleging federal trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and dilution, and state and common law trademark infringement and dilution.

No. H-98-3114 (S.D. Tex. filed 9/18/98)
Federal
Class action complaint filed on behalf trademark owners whose marks have been misappropriated or diluted by the named defendants. Defendants allegedly registered hundreds of trademarks and trade names as domain names, for the purpose of reselling them.

1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10987 (C.D. Cal. 1998)
Federal
Partial summary judgment and injunctive relief granted to group of country musicians and performing groups whose performing names were registered as domain names by defendant. Defendant claimed he intended to use the domain names to direct users to his country music Web site, not to exploit the identities of the musicians or to extort money from them.

CH 1997 B.5421(United Kingdom, 1997)
Foreign
U.K. High Court of Appeal upheld the issuance of injunctive relief against company that had registered multiple domain names containing the trademarks of others.

D. Colo., filed June 17, 1998
Unknown
Plaintiff, a horse saddle manufacturer, won a temporary restraining order against Storefronts in Cyberspace and its owner, Robert Lewis. The saddle company claimed that the defendants sabotaged its Web site following a contract dispute by engaging in a domain hijacking scheme that diverted surfers looking for Down Under Saddle Supply Inc.

D. Mich., filed May, 1998
Federal
Automobile company's lawsuit against alleged cybersquatters for trademark infringement arising from defendants' registration of, and subsequent offer to sell to plaintiff, the domain names vw-bug.com, vw-beetle.

141 F.3d 1316 (9th Cir. 1998)
Federal
Affirming district court ruling [945 F. Supp. 1296 (C.D. Cal. 11/1/96)] against "domain name hijacker." Registration of domain name "panavision."

999 F. Supp. 1337 (C.D. Cal. 1998)
Federal
Free View Listings, a Canadian company that licenses email addresses, is a "cybersquatter" because the 12,000+ surnames it has registered to license to others include the registered trademarks of plaintiff's company. Because defendant registered domain names in order to keep others from using them without their consent, and controlled such use for financial gain, defendant was using the domain names in commerce, and was therefore liable for dilution.

1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22431 (S.D.N.Y. 1997)
Federal
Owners of famous trademark TOYS "R" US and domain name "toysrus.com" won a preliminary injunction against alleged cybersquatter's registration and threatened use of domain name "toysareus.com."

(D.Ga. filed 10/9/97)
Federal
Integrion, an online banking service and owner of the registered trademark INTEGRION, has filed suit against an alleged domain name "squatter" for registering the domain name "integrion.com" and using it in connection with a pornographic Web site.

947 F.Supp. 1227 (N.D. Ill. 1996)
Federal
Finding "an appropriate balance between trademark law and attendant policy concerns," court adopts magistrate's recommendation of summary judgment against defendant Internet service provider and accused "domain name hijacker," who registered domain names incorporating the trademarks and trade names of numerous companies in an apparent effort to profit from reselling the registrations to the companies in question. Toeppen's registration of the domain name "intermatic. com" was found to violate federal and Illinois anti-dilution laws.

No. 96-1505-A (E.D.Va. filed 10/18/96)
Federal
Plaintiff user of trademark JUNO for online services and registered owner of domain name "juno.com" maintains that defendant owner of federal trademark registration for JUNO for track lighting misused the NSI dispute resolution policy in order to "reverse-hijack" the "juno.com" domain name.

1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14451 (D. Ill. 1996)
Federal
One of several actions against accused "domain name hijacker" who registered and sought to resell domain names incorporating the trademarks and trade names of well-known companies. Stipulated court order authorizes NSI (not a party) to relinquish Toeppen's registration of the "americanstandard.com" domain name and reissue it to plaintiff during the pendency of the action.

No. 96-1006-A (E.D. Va., filed 7/26/96)
Federal
Trademark owner's action alleges that defendant "hijacked" the domain name "porsche.com" for the purpose of extracting large cash settlement from rightful owner.

938 F. Supp. 616 (C.D. Cal. 1996)
Federal
Alleged "domain name hijacker" who registered domain name "panavision.com" and attempted to profit by reselling the domain name to plaintiff owner of registered trademark PANAVISION was amenable to California jurisdiction, since his action was conduct expressly aimed at California.

No. 95-0473-CV-W-2 (filed May 8, 1995)
Unknown
Action to obtain domain names "bbb.com" and "bbb.org" from individual who registered them first and then sought to sell them to Better Business Bureaus.

No. 13-199-00145 94 (arbitrated, 9/26/94)
Unknown
Private arbitrator ordered Princeton Review to surrender its registration of the domain name "kaplan.com" to its competitor, Kaplan Educational Center.