Cybersell, Inc. v. Cybersell, Inc.
Cybersell, Inc. v. Cybersell, Inc. was a trademark infringement case based on the use of an internet service mark. The United States District Court for the District of Arizona was asked to review whether the allegedly infringing use of a service mark in a home page on the World Wide Web suffices for personal jurisdiction in the state where the holder of the mark has its principal place of business. The Cybersell holding illustrated that passive websites (i.e. sites that serve only to publish information, rather than to engage in commercial activity or collect information from a user) do not establish personal jurisdiction outside the state in which they are based.[ 1]
Plaintiff Cybersell, Inc. ("Cybersell AZ"), an Arizona corporation with principals Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel, was incorporated in May 1994 providing advertisements for commercial services over the Internet. In August 1994, Cybersell AZ filed an application to register the name "Cybersell" as a service mark, and was approved for trademark registration using cyber.sell.com in October 1995. In February 1995, the site was then taken down for reconstruction.[citation needed ]
In May 1995, while Cybersell AZ was in the process of registering as a federal service mark, Cybersell, Inc. ("Cybersell FL"), a Florida corporation formed “to provide business consulting services for strategic management and marketing on the web” established a website advertising its services at cybsell.com.[ 2] Cybersell FL used their website to provide contact information for their business, including their phone number and email address.[citation needed ]
