SAN JOSE (LN) — U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts on Friday granted Fisher Asset Management’s ex parte application to freeze two domain names, “fisher-investments-europe.org” and “fisherinvestmentseurope.net,” which the court found likely violated the firm’s trademark rights under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).
Fisher, which manages over $387 billion in assets, alleged the domains hosted websites posing as “Fisher Investments Europe” in France. The sites advertised services including operational analysis, wealth-management technology, and cryptocurrency-related services, while soliciting users to input personal data such as email addresses and telephone numbers.
The court found Fisher demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its cybersquatting claim, noting the domain names included the firm’s mark in its entirety and promoted services identical to those offered by the plaintiff. Pitts ruled that a showing of bad faith is not required for in rem actions under the ACPA, disagreeing with other courts in the district that have suggested otherwise.
Because the registrants concealed their identities and the registrar, Dynadot Inc., refused to disclose their contact information without a court order, Pitts granted the ex parte relief. The judge noted that browsers and security services had already flagged the sites as deceptive or associated with suspected phishing schemes.
Fisher established that it would suffer irreparable harm from the sites’ operation, as consumer confusion could lead to the disclosure of personal information and tarnish the firm’s reputation. The court emphasized that such intangible harms to goodwill cannot be retroactively cured.
Pitts ordered Dynadot to lock and disable the domain names and prohibited the registrants from transferring them to another registrar. The order remains in effect until May 29, 2026, and requires Fisher to serve the complaint and order on the registrants at addresses listed on the websites by May 16.
The court consolidated the trial on the merits with the preliminary-injunction hearing, scheduling a show-cause hearing for May 27 at 2:00 p.m. in San José. Responses to the application are due by May 22, with replies due by May 26.