Pursuant to 5 T H C IR . R. 47.5, the court has determin ed that thi s opinio n should not * be publishe d an d is not precede nt except und er the limit ed circu mstance s set forth in 5 T H C IR . R. 47.5 .4. 

### INTHE UNI TED S TATESCOU RT OFAPPEALS

FORTHE FIFTH CIRCU IT

N o. 09- 10098 Su m m ar y Cal endar

In re : Y a h o o ! In c ; O v e r tu r e S e r v ic e s , In c . P et i t i on ers

P et i t i on f

or W ri t of

M an da m u s to the U n i ted S tates D i stri ct C ou rt f ort he N or t her n D i st r i c t of Texas Ca s e No

. 4 : 0 8

- c v - 0 0 6 2 6

- A

B ef ore H IG G IN B O T H A M , B A R K S D A L E , an d E L R O D , C i rcui t Ju dg es . P E R C U R I A M: * A m eri can A i rl i n es su ed Y ah oo! In c. in t h e N ort h ern D i st ri ctof T exas f or t radem ark, m i sapp ropriatio n , a n d tor t v iola tion s a ll e g in g t h at w h en Y ah oo users ty p e v a r io u s A m e r ic a n tr a d e m a r k s in to Y a h o o ’ s s e a r c h e n g in e , a lis t o f p a id ad ve r t i s e m e nt s f

r o m Am e r i c an’ s c o m pe t i t o r s a ppe ara s sp o ns o r e d r e s ul t s on t he
scr een . Y ah oo f

i l ed a m ot i on t o t ran sfer venu e poi n t i n g t o a f oru m sel ect i on cl au se t h at A m eri can an d Y ah oo h ad en t ered i n t o as part of a contr act , t erm ed t h e Sp on sored Sea rch A greem en t , un der w h i ch A m eri can pay s Y ah oo f or A me r i c a n ’ s w e b s i t e t o a p p e a r a s a s p o n s o r e d r e s u l t w h e n c e r t a i n s e a r c h t e r ms United States Court of App eals

Fifth Circuit 

### F I L E D Ma rc h 11, 2009 Cha rl es R. F ulb ru g e II I ClerkN o. 09- 10098

Inre: Volkswagen of Am., I nc. , 5 4 5F .3 d 3 0 4 , 3 0 9( 5 thC ir

. 2 0 0 8). 1 2 are entered on Y ah oo’ s w ebsi t e. T h e fo ru m sel ect i on cl au se i n t h e Sp on sored S earch A greem en t reads:

T h e term s of t h e A gr ee m en t a n d a n y disp u te relati n g th ere to o r b e t we e n y o u a n d u s wi l l b e g o v e r n e d b y t h e l a w s o f t he St at e o f C al i f or nia, w i t hout r egar d t o c onf l i c t /c hoi c e o f

l aw pri n ci pl es. Th e U n i t ed N ati on s C on ven t i on on C on tra ct s f or t he I nt e r nat i on al Sa l e o f G o o ds do e s no t a ppl y t o t he A greem en t
. Y ou agree t o subm i t t o t h e excl u si ve j u ri sdi ct i on of t h e sta te an d fed era lco u rts loca ted in L os A n ge l es C ou n ty or San t a C l ara C ou n t y, C a li f orni a, or an ot h er l ocat i on desi gn ated by u s. A n y cl ai m a gainstu s w i l lbe adjudic ated on an i ndi vi dua lb as i s a nd wi l lno t b e c o ns o l i da t e d i n a ny pro c ee di ng w i t h any c l ai m orc ont r ove r syof any o t herpar t y. T h e di st ri ctcourtdecl i n ed to t ran sfer t h e act i on t o t h e N ort h e rn D istr i ctof C a l i forn i a , f

i n d i n g th a t t h e foru m selecti on cl a u se o n l y re q u i res A m e ri ca n to
s ubm i t t o t he Cal i f

o r ni a f o r um i n c l ai m s br o ugh t a ga i ns t i t b y Yaho o , t hatt he
c la u s e is a m b ig u o u s , a n d th a t A m e r ic a n ’ s cla im s a r is e o u t o f a re la tio n s h ip
com pl et el y separate fr om t h e rel ati on shi p creat ed by t h e Sp on sored Sea rch Agr e e m e ntt hatc o nt ai ns t he for um s e l e c t i o n c l aus e . Yaho o no w s e e ks
m an da m u s. W e g r antm and am us o nl y upo n a de t e r m i nat i o n t hatt he r e ha s b e e n a c l earabus e o f

di sc r et i on t hat produc es a pat ent l y er r oneo us r es ul t
. Thi s hi gh 1 st an da rd i s n ot m et in this case. W e can n ot fau l t t h e f i n di n g by the dis t ri ctcourt t hat t he f

or um se l ec t i on c l ause doe s not appl y t o t he t ype of c l ai m s as se r t ed by Am e r i c an. Am e r i c an’ s c l ai m s a ga i ns t Yaho o a r e b as e d o n t r ad em ark i n f ri n g e m e n t a ll e g e d ly o cc u rr in gth ro u g h re lat i on shi ps betw een Y ah oo an d thi rd pa rties

. T h e cl ai m s do not depen d on t h e contr act u alrel ati on shi p betw een A m eri can an d Y ah oo, do n ot requi re i n t erpret ati on of t h e S p o n sored Sea rch A g r e e m e n t c o n tr a c t, a n d in v o lv e d iffe r e n t o p e r a tiv e fa c ts th a n w o u ld e x is t ifN o. 09- 10098

Yah oo a sse rt s th at Ame rican ’s co mp laint im plic ate s th e fo ru m se le ction clau se 2 because it requ ests a s on e e lement of damages th e returnof the fees it h as paid to Yahoo und er the Sponso red Search Agreement. Americanrequests the return of th es e f ees on the gro und s that it was forced to e nterth e Sp onsor ed S earch Agreement tominimiz e the har m cau se d b yYah oo ’stra de markviolation s. Thisis on e el em ent of d a ma gesa mo n g stt enc laim s fo r in j u nctive re li ef

an d ap rayerf

oranacc ountin gan d re stitutionf orYah oo ’sinfrin gem ents
. Th e di strict court did not err in findin g that American’s suit is atra demark actionu nrel ated to the contract bearin g the forum selectioncl ause . 3 A m eri can broug h t a breach of con t ractcl ai m againstY ah oo un der t h e Sp on sored S ea rch A gr ee m en t. W e ca n n ot f i n d tha t t h e d i stri ct cou r t c le a r ly a b u sed i ts 2 di sc r et i on i n re f

usi ng t o t r ansf

ert he s ui t t o t he N or t her n D i st r i c t of C al i f or ni a. T h e hi gh hu rdl e f

or obt ai n i n g t h e ext raordi n ary w ri t of m an da m u s h as n ot been
c le a r e d in th is ca s e . T h e p e tit io n fo r w r it o f m a n d a m u s is D E N IE D

.