Sallen v. Corinthians Licenciamentos LTDA

The full case caption appears at the end of this opinion.

LYNCH, Circuit Judge. This case raises important issues about the relationship between the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) dispute resolution procedures under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”). This is a dispute between Jay D. Sallen, a resident of Brookline, Massachusetts, and Corinthians Licenciamentos LTDA (“CL”), a Brazilian corporation, over Sallen’s registration and use of the domain name corinthians.com. We are asked to determine whether Sallen, a domain name registrant who has lost the use of a domain name in a WIPO dispute resolution proceeding that declared him a cybersquatter under the UDRP, may bring an action in federal court seeking (1) a declaration that he is not in violation of the ACPA; (2) a declaration that he is not required to transfer the domain name to CL; and (3) such relief as necessary to effectuate these ends.[FOOTNOTE 1] The district court held that federal courts lack jurisdiction over such claims. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the district court and hold that there is federal jurisdiction over such claims.