ConnectU LLC v. Zuckerberg, 1st Cir. Apr. 3, 2008
07-1796 ConnectU LLC v. Zuckerberg
Before Lipez, Circuit Judge. Selya and Siler,1 Senior Circuit Judges.
SELYA, Senior Circuit Judge. Viewed broadly, this appeal concerns a bitter dispute about the parties’ rights in and to Facebook, a spectacularly successful creature of the information age. Viewed more narrowly, however, it presents a jurisdictional enigma that requires us to decide whether an amended complaint that switches the basis of the district court’s subject matter jurisdiction from the existence of diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1), to the existence of a federal question, id. § 1331, should be given effect when filed as of right before any jurisdictional challenge has been mounted. This is a question of first impression at the federal appellate level — and one that sets two established legal principles on a collision course.
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For the reasons that follow, we hold that the jurisdictional claim in the amended complaint warrants full consideration and constitutes a viable hook on which federal jurisdiction can be hung. Because this holding is at odds with the conclusions reached by the court below, we reverse the order of dismissal and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. … ConnectU LLC v. Zuckerberg.
- Of the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation. [↩]
