Traverse Internet Law Federal Court Report: March 2009 Domain Name Dispute Lawsuits

Traverse Internet Law Disclaimer

The facts are unproven allegations of the Plaintiff and all commentary is based upon the allegations, the truthfulness and accuracy of which are likely in dispute.


ZUFFA, LLC v. ULTIMATEUFC.COM, ET AL.
DISTRICT OF NEVADA (LAS VEGAS)
2:09-CV-00590
FILED: 3/30/2009

The interesting thing about this case is that it has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. All I will comment on this point is that the cybersquatting law only permits “in rem” lawsuits in the jurisdictions of the registrar or registree. While there are serious questions as to whether the Nevada court has jurisdiction, reality is that the Defendants are unlikely to ever appear and the UFC will end up with these domain names due merely to the cost of litigating the issue of jurisdiction and the merit of the Plaintiff’s contentions.

Zuffa, LLC does business as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a private company that promotes mixed martial arts contests and exhibitions. Defendants are alleged to own certain domain names with the “UFC” registered trademark in the domain names.

This is an “in rem” action against the domain names themselves and not against the Defendants. The lawsuit alleges cybersquatting and requests an injunction requiring the domain name registrar to transfer the registrations to the Plaintiff. Traverse Internet Law Cross-Reference Number 1302.