I understand that when you file a lasuit against an individual, this
opens a discovery phase which opens up an opportunity to subpena for
information to gain evidence to support your case.

In the case of a trademark infringer, if the person's name is unknown,
but a subpena (in this case.. to the registrar of a domain name)
should get you the name of the person responsible, can you request a
subpena for the person's name before filing the complaint?

If not:

Are you allowed to file the defendent on a complaint (federal civil
suit) as "John Doe"? If so, and you later discover that "John Doe" is
out of the courts in personam jurisdiction, can you motion the court
to move the case to a different jurisdiction without having to pay
again to file another lawsuit in the proper jurisdiction?

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Clarification of Question by coderoyal-ga on 19 Feb 2006 10:32 PST

Thanks for your response. This would be a suit filed in a District
Court (Federal Court), so the rules would fall under the F.R.C.P. Is
this sufficient information for a reasonable answer?

Thanks again,
Alan

Just to chime in here: Domain name registrations are always public. If
you're looking to find who has registered a domain name, simply visit
a site like http://www.whois.sc and type in the domain name. If the
domain name is WHOISGuard protected, call the number listed, and you
should be able to get in contact with the registrant.

Hi there!

Thank you for the response!

In my case however, it's not technically guarded in the context that
the person used a privacy feature to protect the name, but the person
used a false name in the registrant field. I'd like to subpena for the
billing information provided, because to use a credit card to purchase
the domain, you must use the valid name associated with the credit
card. So I'm hoping this will get me the name.

Also, in my case, the person isn't willing to give me his name.

Thank you for the response!!!

It is critical and essential that you obtain a copy of the Rules of
Court for the jurisdiction that you would bring the matter. You are in
the heart of the forest, very quickly, here and there are innumerable
traps for the non-attorney that makes it so very easy for an attorney
to frustrate you at every turn.

As an example, discovery is not permitted by all courts as an
automatic part of the litigation process. In Michigan, where I
practice, discovery is permitted in our circuit courts but only
permitted with permission of the lower district court.

The ability to join someone whose name is unknown is also a matter of court rule.  

I would suggest to you that your question cannot be adequately answered here.

Hi,

As stated in my original question. This would apply to the F.R.C.P
because this is filed in a District (Federal) Court. At this point, I
understand now that you need to file a suit as John Doe to begin the
discovery procedure, and issue the subpoena.

My question is now what is the proper way to file a lawsuit in a
District Court against a John Doe? I'll close this thread and start a
new question asking this specifically.