Source: https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/collages/14036
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 02:09:54
Document Index: 538653441

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1125', '§ 1125', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1127', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1052', 'Art. 11', '§ 1052', '§ 1114', '§ 1114', '§ 1125', '§ 1125', '§ 1125', '§ 1125', '§ 1114', '§ 3004', '§ 1125']

Barcelona.com v. Excelentisimo Ayuntamiento de Barcelona -note
Barcelona.com v. Excelentisimo Ayuntamiento de Barcelona -note | 330 F 3d 617 | June 02, 2003 | mrisch
This short case discusses what happens if the UDRP is challenged
[618] [619] ARGUED: Larry Zinn, San Antonio, Texas, for Appellant. Jordan Scot Weinstein, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Jonathan Hudis, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Appellee.
Because the district court applied Spanish law rather than United States law and based its transfer order, in part, on a counterclaim that the City Council never filed, we reverse the judgment of the district court denying Bcom, Inc. relief under [620] the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, vacate its memorandum opinion and its order to transfer the domain name to the City Council, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
In 1996, Mr. Joan Nogueras Cobo ("Nogueras"), a Spanish citizen, registered the domain name in the name of his wife, also a Spanish citizen, with the domain registrar, Network Solutions, Inc., in Herndon, Virginia. In the application for registration of the domain name, Nogueras listed himself as the administrative contact. When Nogueras met Mr. Shahab Hanif, a British citizen, in June 1999, they developed a business plan to turn into a tourist portal for the Barcelona, Spain, region. A few months later they formed Bcom, Inc. under Delaware law to own and to run the website, and Nogueras, his wife, and Hanif became Bcom, Inc.'s officers. Bcom, Inc. was formed as an American company in part because Nogueras believed that doing so would facilitate obtaining financing for the development of the website. Although Bcom, Inc. maintains a New York mailing address, it has no employees in the United States, does not own or lease office space in the United States, and does not have a telephone listing in the United States. Its computer server is in Spain.
On May 3, 2000, a lawyer for the City Council sent a letter to Nogueras demanding that Nogueras transfer the domain name to the City Council. The City Council owned about 150 trademarks issued in Spain, the majority of which included the word Barcelona, such as "Teatre Barcelona," "Barcelona Informacio I Grafic," and "Barcelona Informacio 010 El Tlefon Que Ho Contesta Tot." Its earlier effort in 1995 to register the domain name , however, was unsuccessful. The City Council's representative explained, "It was denied to Barcelona and to all place names in Spain." This representative also explained that the City Council did not try also to register in 1995 even though that domain name was available because "[a]t that time ... the world Internet that we know now was just beginning and it was not seen as a priority by the City Council." The City Council now took the position with Bcom, Inc. that its domain name was confusingly similar to numerous trademarks that the City Council owned.
A couple of days after the City Council sent its letter, Nogueras had the domain name transferred from his wife's name to Bcom, Inc., which he [621] had neglected to do in 1999 when Bcom, Inc. was formed.
Upon Bcom, Inc.'s refusal to transfer to the City Council, the City Council invoked the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP") promulgated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") to resolve the dispute. Every domain name issued by Network Solutions, Inc. is issued under a contract, the terms of which include a provision requiring resolution of disputes through the UDRP. In accordance with that policy, the City Council filed an administrative complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO"), an ICANN-authorized dispute-resolution provider located in Switzerland. The complaint sought transfer of the domain name to the City Council and relied on Spanish law in asserting that Bcom, Inc. had no rights to the domain name while the City Council had numerous Spanish trademarks that contained the word "Barcelona." As part of its complaint, the City Council agreed "to be subject to the jurisdiction of the registrant[']s residence, the Courts of Virginia (United States), only with respect to any challenge that may be made by the Respondent to a decision by the Administrative Panel to transfer or cancel the domain names that are [the] subject of this complaint."
The administrative complaint was resolved by a single WIPO panelist who issued a ruling in favor of the City Council on August 4, 2000. The WIPO panelist concluded that was confusingly similar to the City Council's Spanish trademarks, that Bcom, Inc. had no legitimate interest in , and that Bcom, Inc.'s registration and use of was in bad faith. To support his conclusion that Bcom, Inc. acted in bad faith, the WIPO panelist observed that the only purpose of the business plan was "to commercially exploit information about the City of Barcelona ... particularly ... the information prepared and provided by [the City Council] as part of its public service." The WIPO panelist ordered that Bcom, Inc. transfer the domain name to the City Council.
In accordance with the UDRP's provision that required a party aggrieved by the dispute resolution process to file any court challenge within ten business days, Bcom, Inc. commenced this action on August 18, 2000 under the provision of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (the "ACPA") that authorizes a domain name owner to seek recovery or restoration of its domain name when a trademark owner has overstepped its authority in causing the domain name to be suspended, disabled, or transferred. See 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v). Bcom, Inc.'s complaint sought a declaratory judgment that its use of the name "does not infringe upon any trademark of defendant or cause confusion as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of the website ; ... [and] that [the City Council] is barred from instituting any action against [Bcom, Inc.] for trademark infringement." While the City Council answered the complaint and stated, as an affirmative defense, that the court lacked jurisdiction over the City Council for any cause of action other than Bcom, Inc.'s "challenge to the arbitrator's Order issued in the UDRP domain name arbitration proceeding," the City Council filed no counterclaim to assert any trademark rights.
Following a bench trial, the district court entered a memorandum opinion and an order dated February 22, 2002, denying Bcom, Inc.'s request for declaratory judgment and directing Bcom, Inc. to "transfer [622] the domain name barcelona.com to the [City Council] forthwith." 189 F.Supp.2d 367, 377 (E.D.Va.2002). Although the district court concluded that the WIPO panel ruling "should be given no weight and this case must be decided based on the evidence presented before the Court," the court proceeded in essence to apply the WIPO panelist opinion as well as Spanish law. Id. at 371. The court explained that even though the City Council did not own a trademark in the name "Barcelona" alone, it owned numerous Spanish trademarks that included the word Barcelona, which could, under Spanish law as understood by the district court, be enforced against an infringing use such as . Id. Adopting the WIPO panelist's decision, the court stated that "the WIPO decision was correct in its determination that [Bcom, Inc.] took `advantage of the normal confusion' of an Internet user by using the `Barcelona route' because an Internet userwould `normally expect to reach some official body ... for ... the information.'" Id. at 372. Referring to the facts that Bcom, Inc. engaged in little activity and attempted to sell the domain name to the City Council, the court concluded that "these factors clearly demonstrate a bad faith intent on the part of the Plaintiff and its sole shareholders to improperly profit from their registration of the domain name barcelona.com." At bottom, the court concluded that Bcom, Inc. failed to demonstrate, as required by 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v), that its use of was "not unlawful." Id. at 373.
In addition to concluding that Bcom, Inc. failed to establish its claim, the court stated that it was also deciding the City Council's counterclaim for relief under 15 U.S.C. § 1125 and determined that "the Spanish trademark `Barcelona' is valid for purposes of the ACPA." Id. at 374. Applying the factors of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(2)(d)(1)(B)(i), the court found that Nogueras and his wife acted with "bad faith intent" in registering as a domain name. Id. at 374-76. The court also found that "is confusingly similar to the defendant's mark." Id. at 376.
[623] To hold otherwise would be to strip a trademark owner of its foreign rights whenever it is haled into court by a U.S. domain name owner who has lost a UDRP administrative proceeding. Without the ability to assert their rights, foreign trademark owners would automatically lose such proceedings, creating an unintended and unjust result.
Bcom, Inc.'s complaint, brought in the Eastern District of Virginia where the domain name was registered with Network Solutions, Inc., originally asserted three claims in three separate counts: a claim for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief under 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v); a claim for fraud and unfair competition; and a claim for tortious interference with prospective economic advantage. In response to the City Council's motion to dismiss on various jurisdictional grounds, Bcom, Inc. voluntarily dismissed all claims except its claim under § 1114(2)(D)(v). After the district court denied the City Council's motion to dismiss, the City Council filed an answer, stating as one of its affirmative defenses:
A domain name is "any alphanumeric designation which is registered with or assigned by any domain name registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name registration authority as part of an electronic address on the Internet." 15 U.S.C. § 1127. To obtain a domain name, a would-be registrant simply makes application to a registrar (there are currently over 160), submits a fee, and agrees to the terms of the domain name registration [624] agreement. Domain names are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
S. Rep. No. 106-140, at 4 (1999). Although the ACPA was enacted primarily to redress cyberpiracy or "cybersquatting," it also provides limited liability for trademark infringement by registrars who participate in the administration of the registration, transfer, and cancellation of [625] domain names pursuant to a "reasonable policy" that is consistent with the purposes of the trademark laws. See 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(i)-(iii). And to balance the rights given to trademark owners against cybersquatters, the ACPA also provides some protection to domain name registrants against "overreaching trademark owners." S.Rep. No. 106-140, at 11; see also 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(iv)-(v). Thus, § 1114(2)(D)(v) authorizes a domain name registrant to sue trademark owners for "reverse domain name hijacking."[1] Under that reverse domain name hijacking provision, a domain name registrant who is aggrieved by an overreaching trademark owner may commence an action to declare that the domain name registration or use by the registrant is not unlawful under the Lanham Act. This section provides that the court may "grant injunctive relief to the domain name registrant, including the reactivation of the domain name or transfer of the domain name to the domain name registrant." 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v).
[626] Moreover, any decision made by a panel under the UDRP is no more than an agreed-upon administration that is not given any deference under the ACPA. To the contrary, because a UDRP decision is susceptible of being grounded on principles foreign or hostile to American law, the ACPA authorizes reversing a panel decision if such a result is called for by application of the Lanham Act.
The parties do not dispute that the first two elements are satisfied. Bcom, Inc. is a domain name registrant, and its domain name was suspended, disabled, or transferred under Network Solutions' policy, i.e., the UDRP incorporated into the domain name registration agreement for . Although the domain name had not actually been transferred from Bcom, Inc. as of the time that Bcom, Inc. commenced this action, the WIPO panelist had already ordered the transfer, and as a result of this order the transfer was certain to occur absent the filing of this action to stop it. By filing this suit, Bcom, Inc. obtained an automatic stay of the transfer order by virtue of paragraph 4(k) of the UDRP, which provides that the registrar will stay implementation of the administrative panel's decision if the registrant commences "a lawsuit against the [627] complainant in a jurisdiction to which the complainant has submitted" under the applicable UDRP rule of procedure. See ICANN, UDRP ¶ 4(k). Moreover, this suit for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief under § 1114(2)(D)(v) appears to be precisely the mechanism designed by Congress to empower a party whose domain name is subject to a transfer order like the one in the present case to prevent the order from being implemented. See Sallen, 273 F.3d at 25 n. 11 ("We think that § 1114(2)(D)(ii)(II), the statutory provision referenced in § 1114(2)(D)(v), covers situations where a transfer by [the registrar] is inevitable unless a court action is filed").
It appears from the district court's memorandum opinion that it indeed did resolve the last element by applying Spanish law. Although the district court recognized that the City Council did not have a registered trademark in the name "Barcelona" alone, either in Spain or in the United States, it observed that "[u]nder Spanish law, when trademarks consisting of two or more words contain one word that stands out in a predominant manner, that dominant word must be given decisive relevance." Barcelona.com, Inc., 189 F.Supp.2d at 371-72. The court noted that "the term `Barcelona' has been included in many trademarks consisting of two or more words owned by the City Council of Barcelona. In most of these marks, the word `Barcelona' is clearly the dominant word which characterizes the mark." Id. at 372. These observations regarding the substance and effect of Spanish law led the court to conclude that the City Council of Barcelona "owns a legally valid Spanish trademark for the dominant word `Barcelona.'" Id. The district court then proceeded to determine whether Bcom's "use of the Barcelona trademark is `not unlawful.'" Id. In this portion of its analysis, the district court determined that there was a "confusing similarity between the barcelona.com domain name and the marks held by the Council," id., and that "the circumstances surrounding the incorporation of [Bcom, Inc.] and the actions taken by Nogueras in attempting to sell the domain name evidence[d] a bad faith intent to profit from the registration of a domain name containing the Council's mark," id. Applying Spanish trademark law in this manner, the court resolved that Bcom, Inc.'s registration and use of were unlawful.
It requires little discussion to demonstrate that this use of Spanish law by the district court was erroneous under the plain terms of the statute. The text of the ACPA explicitly requires application of the Lanham Act, not foreign law, to resolve an action brought under 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v). Specifically, it authorizes an aggrieved domain name registrant to "file a civil action to establish that the registration or use of the domain name by such registrant is not unlawful under this chapter." 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v) (emphasis added).[2] It is thus readily apparent [628] that the cause of action created by Congress in this portion of the ACPA requires the court adjudicating such an action to determine whether the registration or use of the domain name violates the Lanham Act. Because the statutory language has a plain and unambiguous meaning that is consistent with the statutory context and application of this language in accordance with its plain meaning provides a component of a coherent statutory scheme, our statutory analysis need proceed no further. See Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337, 340, 117 S.Ct. 843, 136 L.Ed.2d 808 (1997) ("Our first step in interpreting a statute is to determine whether the language at issue has a plain and unambiguous meaning with regard to the particular dispute in the case. Our inquiry must cease if the statutory language is unambiguous and the statutory scheme is coherent and consistent" (quotation marks omitted)).
When we apply the Lanham Act, not Spanish law, in determining whether Bcom, Inc.'s registration and use of is unlawful, the ineluctable conclusion follows that Bcom, [629] Inc.'s registration and use of the name "Barcelona" is not unlawful. Under the Lanham Act, and apparently even under Spanish law, the City Council could not obtain a trademark interest in a purely descriptive geographical designation that refers only to the City of Barcelona. See 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(2); see also Spanish Trademark Law of 1988, Art. 11(1)(c) (forbidding registration of marks consisting exclusively of "geographical origin"). Under United States trademark law, a geographic designation can obtain trademark protection if that designation acquires secondary meaning. See, e.g., Resorts of Pinehurst, Inc. v. Pinehurst Nat'l Corp., 148 F.3d 417, 421 (4th Cir.1998). On the record in this case, however, there was no evidence that the public — in the United States or elsewhere — associates "Barcelona" with anything other than the City itself. Indeed, the Chief Director of the City Council submitted an affidavit stating that "[t]he City does not own and is not using any trademarks in the United States, to identify any goods or services." Therefore, under United States trademark law, "Barcelona" should have been treated as a purely descriptive geographical term entitled to no trademark protection. See 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(2). It follows then that there was nothing unlawful about Nogueras' registration of , nor is there anything unlawful under United States trademark law about Bcom, Inc.'s continued use of that domain name.[3]
For these reasons, we conclude that Bcom, Inc. established entitlement to relief under 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v) with respect to the domain name , and accordingly we reverse the district court's ruling in this regard.
After applying Spanish trademark law to deny Bcom, Inc. relief under 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(D)(v), the district court also proceeded to adjudicate what it described as the City Council's "counterclaim for relief under the [ACPA]." Barcelona.com, Inc., 189 F.Supp.2d at 373 (referring to 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d)(1)(A)). The court devoted approximately half of its opinion to issues arising out of this alleged counterclaim and, in this section of its opinion, issued rulings (1) that claims may be brought under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d) premised on the violation of foreign marks because the statute's coverage is not limited to violations of United States trademarks, id. at 373-74, (2) that Bcom acted with a bad faith intent to profit under the nine nonexclusive factors set forth in 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d)(1)(B), id. at 374-76, and (3) that was "confusingly similar" to the City Council's Spanish trademarks which "contain the term'Barcelona' as the dominant element," id. at 376.
We do not reach the merits of Bcom Inc.'s appeal of the district court's rulings on these issues insofar as they relate to the "counter-claim" under § 1125 because the City Council never filed a counterclaim. The issues presented by the district court's rulings on this "counterclaim" are not before us on appeal because they were not properly before the district court ab initio.[4] Accordingly, we vacate the district court's rulings on all issues arising out of this phantom counterclaim.
[630] V
[1] If a domain-name registrant cybersquats in violation of the ACPA, he "hijacks" the domain name from a trademark owner who ordinarily would be expected to have the right to use the domain name involving his trademark. But when a trademark owner overreaches in exercising rights under the ACPA, he "reverse hijacks" the domain name from the domain-name registrant. Thus, § 1114(2)(D)(v), enacted to protect domain-name registrants against overreaching trademark owners, may be referred to as the "reverse domain name hijacking" provision.
[2] The ACPA actually provides that the registrant may sue to declare that the domain name's use by such registrant is "not unlawful under this Act." 113 Stat. 1501A-550, § 3004. "Act" is defined to refer to the Trademark Act of 1946 (the Lanham Act). Id. Upon codification, the term "this Act" became "this chapter," Chapter 22 of Title 15, which contains the Lanham Act.
[3] Bcom, Inc. asserts that of the 100 most populous cities in the world, it could discover only one — Sydney, Australia — whose name, sydney.com, was registered to the city.
[4] Counsel for the parties agreed at oral argument that no counterclaim had been filed. We can only speculate that the district court's mistaken attribution of a counterclaim to the City Council may perhaps have rested on statements relating to the § 1125 "bad faith" factors in the City Council's Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
Original Item: "Barcelona.com v. Excelentisimo Ayuntamiento de Barcelona"
Lineage of: Barcelona.com v. Excelentisimo Ayuntamiento de Barcelona -note
08/02/2014 at 15:45 by mrisch