GoPets Ltd. v. Hise
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
657 F.3d 1024 (2011)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
In 1999, Edward Hise (defendant) registered the domain name gopets.com. Hise had plans to form a pet business and use the domain name for his products, but the business never materialized. In 2004, Erik Bethke founded the company GoPets, Limited (GoPets) (plaintiff). In November 2006, GoPets registered the service mark “GoPets.” In December 2006, Hise transferred his registration of his domain name to Digital Overture, a corporation that Hise and his brother owned. In November and December 2006, Hise also registered several other domain names, including gopet.biz, gopet.org, and goingpets.com. GoPets sued Hise in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleging a violation of the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). GoPets argued that the transfer of the registration to Digital Overture constituted a “registration” under the ACPA. The district court found that Hise’s reregistration of gopets.com and his registration of the additional domain names each violated the ACPA. Hise appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fletcher, J.)
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