CABLE NEWS NETWORK, LP, LLLP, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CNNEWS.COM, Defendant-Appellant, MAYA ONLINE BROADBAND NETWORK (HK) COMPANY, LIMITED, Appellant. ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION, Amicus Supporting Appellant. AT&T CORPORATION, Amicus Supporting Appellee., 56 Fed. Appx. 599

Summary

The Chinese network argued primarily that the district court lacked jurisdiction because the Chinese network did not have sufficient minimum contacts with the forum. The appellate court upheld the district court's determination that in rem actions did not require minimum contacts and the ACPA explicitly allowed in rem suits to be brought where the registry for the domain name was located. A Virginia corporation that was bought out after the commencement of this action, operated both a registrar and a registry. The district court then concluded that the U.S. network had established that the Chinese network used the mark "in commerce" and that the use was likely to cause confusion. The district court also properly transferred the domain name to the U.S. network. The appellate court also noted that the district court decided the matter after the appellate court's decision in Harrods Ltd. The Harrods Ltd. decision held that plaintiffs could prevail in an in rem trademark infringement and ...