Zippo Manufacturing Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc.
952 F. Supp. 1119 · District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania · 1997
Facts
Zippo Manufacturing (PA) sued Zippo Dot Com (CA) for trademark infringement and dilution, alleging Dot Com's use of 'Zippo' in its domain names and news service. Dot Com, which has no physical presence in Pennsylvania, operates an interactive website and news service, contracting with approximately 3,000 Pennsylvania residents and seven Pennsylvania Internet access providers. Dot Com moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Issue
Can a federal court in Pennsylvania exercise specific personal jurisdiction over a California-based Internet company whose only contacts with Pennsylvania are through its interactive website, which contracts with and provides services to Pennsylvania residents?
Holding
Yes. The court denied Dot Com's motion to dismiss, finding that it had specific personal jurisdiction over Dot Com in Pennsylvania because Dot Com purposefully conducted business with Pennsylvania residents over the Internet.
Rule
Personal jurisdiction over an Internet defendant depends on a 'sliding scale' of commercial activity: jurisdiction is proper for active business transactions (e.g., contracts, repeated file transmissions), unlikely for passive websites, and determined by interactivity and commercial nature for middle-ground sites. The defendant must purposefully avail itself of the forum, and the claim must arise from those contacts, with the exercise of jurisdiction being reasonable.
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