Ford Motor Co. v. Greatdomains.com, Inc.

Ford and other automakers (plaintiffs) sued individuals (defendants) who registered domain names using their trademarks, suing in the Eastern District of Michigan and arguing the court could rely on in rem jurisdiction over the domain names themselves under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), bypassing any personal-jurisdiction analysis. Most defendants actually resided in the United States, and none of the relevant domain-name registries were located within the Eastern District of Michigan; Ford argued it could establish in rem jurisdiction anyway by filing documents in that district sufficient to exercise control over the domain names, and the defendants moved to dismiss the in rem claims.