Newport News Holdings Corp. v. Virtual City Vision, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
650 F.3d 423 (2011)
Newport News Holdings Corp. (plaintiff), a women's clothing retailer, held trademarks in "Newport News" and the domain newport-news.com, and tried to acquire the related domain newportnews.com from Virtual City Vision, Inc. (VCV), operated by Van James Bond Tran (defendants). VCV owned numerous geography-themed domains providing local information, but after rejecting Newport News's purchase offer unless it was a "seven-figure" sum (or, alternatively, a commission on selling Newport News's own products), VCV's newportnews.com site abandoned its geographic-information format — unlike VCV's other location-based sites — and began featuring advertisements for competing women's clothing brands. Newport News sued under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), and the district court granted summary judgment finding bad faith; VCV appealed.
Whether a domain-name registrant's use of another's trademark in a domain name is protected as a good-faith, legitimate use under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act when the registrant abandons its prior legitimate content in favor of content that directly competes with the trademark holder after a failed sale negotiation.