Doctor can’t be sued for cybersquatting in distant state

Listen to this article

Within three days, the Seventh Circuit issued two opinions both addressing whether a out-of-state business could be sued for cybersquatting.

On Sept. 29, the court held that Internet giant GoDaddy could be sued in Illinois, even though its operations were based almost entirely in Arizona, in large part because GoDaddy advertises nationally. See “…”, David Ziemer, Wisconsin Law Journal, Oct. 4, 2010.

But on Oct. 1, it held that Dr. Eric Chan, an anesthesiologist from Houston, Texas, could not be sued in Illinois, even if the Internet domain name of his company is confusingly similar to that of an anesthesiologist in Chicago.

Because the Houston doctor is not licensed in Illinois, and his website only solicited Houston-area doctors to contract with him, the court concluded that Illinois courts lacked personal jurisdiction over him.

Case: Mobile Anesthesiologists Chicago, LLC, v. Anesthesia Associates of Houston Metroplex, P.A., No. 09-2658

For a full analysis of the case, see the Oct. 11 issue of Wisconsin Law Journal.