Home Practice Areas Jurisdictions Cases & Codes News CLE Market Center Research a LawyerFindLaw | For Legal Professionals | For Corporate Counsel | For Law StudentsRegister/login to My FindLawMy current location: Pittsburgh, PA | Change LocationFederal Law | State Law | Case Summaries Search | U.S. Code | NewslettersU.S. 4th Circuit Court of AppealsPEOPLE FOR ETHICAL v DOUGHNEYPUBLISHEDUNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALSFOR THE FOURTH CIRCUITPEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.No. 00-1918 MICHAEL T. DOUGHNEY, an individual, Defendant-Appellant.DIANE CABELL; MILTON MUELLER, Amici Curiae.PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS, Plaintiff-Appellant,v. No. 00-2289MICHAEL T. DOUGHNEY, an individual, Defendant-Appellee.Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Claude M. Hilton, ChiefDistrict Judge. (CA-99-1336-A)Argued: May 7, 2001Decided: August 23, 2001Before MICHAEL and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and Benson E. LEGG, United States District Judge for the District ofMaryland, sitting by designation.Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Gregory wrote the opinion, in which Judges Michael and Legg joined._________________________________________________________________COUNSELARGUED: Guilett Gervaise Davis, III, DAVIS & SCHROEDER, P.C., Monterey, California, for Appellant. Philip JayHirschkop, HIRSCHKOP & ASSOCIATES, P.C., Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Eric Barki Boustani,DAVIS & SCHROEDER, P.C., Monterey, California; Richard T. Rossier, Kath-ryn A. Kleiman, MCLEOD, WATKINSON &MILLER, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Marianne R. Merritt, HIRSCHKOP & ASSO- CIATES, P.C., Alexandria,Virginia, for Appellee. Diane Cabell, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dr. Milton Mueller, Center forScience and Technology, SYRACUSE UNIVER- SITY, Syracuse, New York, Amici Curiae Pro Se._________________________________________________________________OPINION View enhanced case on WestlawClick for Printable version Email this case KeyCite this case on Westlawhttp://laws.findlaw.com/4th/001918p.htmlPage1of7FindLaw for Legal Professionals-Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code9/16/2007http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=4th&navby=case&no=001918P&exact=1GREGORY, Circuit Judge:People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ("PETA") sued Michael Doughney ("Doughney") after he registered the domainname peta.org and created a website called"People Eating Tasty Ani- mals." PETA alleged claims of service markinfringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114 and Virginia common law, unfair competition under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a) and Virginiacommon law, and service mark dilu- tion and cybersquatting under 15 U.S.C. § 1123(c). Doughney appeals the district court'sdecision granting PETA's motion for summary judgment and PETA cross-appeals the district court's denial of its motion forattorney's fees and costs. Finding no error, we affirm.I.PETA is an animal rights organization with more than 600,000 members worldwide. PETA "is dedicated to promoting andheighten- ing public awareness of animal protection issues and it opposes the exploitation of animals for food, clothing,entertainment and vivisec- tion." Appellee/Cross-Appellant PETA's Brief at 7.Doughney is a former internet executive who has registered many domain names since 1995. For example, Doughneyregistered domain names such as dubyadot.com, dubyadot.net , deathbush.com and other domain names relating to PresidentGeorge W. Bush, RandallTer- ry.org (Not Randall Terry for Congress), bwtel.com (Baltimore- Washington TelephoneCompany), pmrc.org ("People's Manic Repressive Church"), and ex-cult.org (Ex-Cult Archive). At the time the district courtissued its summary judgment ruling, Doughney owned 50-60 domain names.Doughney registered the domain name peta.org in 1995 with Net- work Solutions, Inc. ("NSI"). When registering the domainname, Doughney represented to NSI that the registration did "not interfere with or infringe upon the rights of any third party,"and that a "non- profit educational organization" called "People Eating Tasty Animals" was registering the domain name.Doughney made these representa- tions to NSI despite knowing that no corporation, partnership, organi- zation or entity ofany kind existed or traded under that name. Moreover, Doughney was familiar with PETA and its beliefs and had been for atleast 15 years before registering the domain name.After registering the peta.org domain name, Doughney used it to create a website purportedly on behalf of "People EatingTasty Ani- mals." Doughney claims he created the website as a parody of PETA. A viewer accessing the website would seethe title"People Eating Tasty Animals" in large, bold type. Under the title, the viewer would see a statement that the websitewas a "resource for those who enjoy eating meat, wearing fur and leather, hunting, and the fruits of scien- tific research." Thewebsite contained links to various meat, fur, leather, hunting, animal research, and other organizations, all of which heldviews generally antithetical to PETA's views. Another statement on the website asked the viewer whether he/she was "Feel-ing lost? Offended? Perhaps you should, like, exit immediately." The phrase "exit immediately" contained a hyperlink toPETA's official website. Doughney's website appeared at "www.peta.org" for only six months in 1995-96. In 1996, PETAasked Doughney to voluntarily transfer the peta.org domain name to PETA because PETA owned the "PETA" mark ("theMark"), which it registered in 1992. See U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1705,510. When Doughney refused to transfer thedomain name to PETA, PETA complained to NSI, whose rules then required it to place the domain name on"hold" pendingres- olution of Doughney's dispute with PETA.1Consequently, Doughney moved the website to www.mtd.com/tasty andadded a disclaimer stat- ing that "People Eating Tasty Animals is in no way connected with, or endorsed by, People for theEthical Treatment of Animals."In response to Doughney's domain name dispute with PETA, The Chronicle of Philanthropy quoted Doughney as stating that,"[i]f they [PETA] want one of my domains, they should make me an offer." Non-Profit Groups Upset by Unauthorized Use ofTheir Names on the Internet, THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY, Nov. 14, 1996. Doughney does not dispute makingthis statement. Additionally, Doughney posted the following message on his website on
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