Domain name case in ED Va

Before the Court are Proposed Findings of Fact and Recommendations ("Report") issued by a magistrate judge on August 24, 2017 [Dkt. No. 19]. The Report recommends that plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Default Judgment [Dkt. No. 15] be granted, that VeriSign, Inc., the registry of domain name, 411mania.com (the "Infringing Domain Name"), be ordered to require the current registrar to transfer the registrations for the Infringing Domain Name to plaintiff, 411Mania.com, LLC, and that Defendant John Doe be dismissed without prejudice. The Report advised the parties that any objection to the Report had to be filed within fourteen days of service of the Report and that failure to file a timely objection barred appeal of "any finding or conclusion accepted or adopted by the District Judge except upon grounds of plain error." Report at 19. As of September 11, 2017, no objections have been filed by any party.
Plaintiff brings an in rem action under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ("ACPA"), 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d). Accordingly, [*2] the Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1121 and 28 U.S.C. §§1331 and 1338(a). Venue is proper under the ACPA because VeriSign, Inc., the domain name registry is located in this district. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1125(d)(2)(A) and (C).
The Court has in rem jurisdiction over the Infringing Domain Name pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d)(2)(A). Under this provision, a court in the judicial district in which the domain name registry is located has in rem jurisdiction if "the domain name violates any right of the owner of a mark registered in the Patent and Trademark Office" and the owner of the mark "is not able to obtain in personam jurisdiction over a person who would have been a defendant in a civil action" under the ACPA or "through due diligence was not able to find a person who would have been a defendant" after sending notice of the claimed violation and the owner's intent to file suit to the registrant. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d)(2)(A).




from 411 MANIA.COM, LLC, Plaintiff, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147547