Petroliam Nasional Berhad v. GoDaddy.com, Inc.

Filing 87

ORDER by Judge Hamilton denying 77 Motion to Dismiss (pjhlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/5/2011)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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PETROLIAM NASIONAL BERHAD,

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

GODADDY.COM, INC.,

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No. C 09-5939 PJH

Defendant.
_______________________________/

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The motion of defendant GoDaddy.com, Inc. (“GoDaddy”) for an order dismissing

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the first amended complaint for failure to state a claim came on for hearing before this court

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on May 4, 2011. Plaintiff Petroliam Nasional Berhad (“Petronas”) appeared by its counsel

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Perry R. Clark, and GoDaddy appeared by its counsel John L. Slafsky and Hollis Beth Hire.

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Having read the parties’ papers and carefully considered their arguments, and good cause

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appearing, the court hereby DENIES the motion.

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The court is unable to resolve a number of the issues raised in the present motion in

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the absence of a developed record. Among other things, the court requires a record

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clarifying the mechanics of what GoDaddy did or does with regard to the disputed domain

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names, and what “forwarding” and “routing” are and whether either or both can be

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considered part of domain name registration services generally or the services offered by

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GoDaddy. In addition, while the court has certain reservations concerning the adequacy of

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the pleading, it has concluded that dismissing the first amended complaint with leave to

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amend, and then toiling through yet another round of briefing on motions to dismiss, would

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not be productive.

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The court will conduct a case management conference on Thursday, May 26, 2011,
at 2:00 p.m.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: May 5, 2011
______________________________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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