The new age of technology presents much opportunity for litigation. The Internet is no exception. When operating Internet websites, an important part of it is owning the domain name (www.example.com). Anyone in the world can own any domain name that is available and the facts of this case arise from this concept.
The plaintiff in this case, Weather Underground Corporation (Weather Underground), a Michigan corporation, is a commercial weather service. It owns and operates several domain names so that people can access their company through their websites. Defendants in this case, Navigation Catalyst Systems, Incorporated (“NCS”), a Delaware corporation, owns many domain names that are similar to the plaintiff’s company name (some would result from people misspelling the correct domain name for Weather Underground). NCS profits from consumers going to one of these websites and clicking on links that are on them.
Plaintiff filed suit against NCS and several of its companies in the District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. As defendants were not incorporated in Michigan, the issue of personal jurisdiction arise. The courts of appeals have held that in order to establish specific personal jurisdiction (showing that this company has established contacts with the forum state), one must show three things: (1) the defendant purposefully availed himself of the privilege of acting in the forum state, (2) the cause of action arises from the defendant’s activities there, and (3) the defendant’s acts were so substantial as to make the exercise of personal jurisdiction there reasonable.
The district court is considering whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction is proper. What should it decide and why?67
