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Website Attorneys 
110 S. Regent Street, Suite 200 

Salt Lake City, UT 84111 
(888) 941-9933 
(801) 347-5173 
(801) 665-1292 
steve@websiteattorneys.com

  OUR PROFESSIONALS
 

Steven | Registered Patent Attorney

Steven is a registered patent attorney licensed before the State of Utah, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the US Patent and Trademark Office. 

  Todd | Registered Patent Attorney

Todd is a registered patent attorney licensed before the States of California, Maryland, Texas, andthe US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  Todd has extensive patent litigation experience.

  Dane | Registered Patent Attorney

Dane is a registered patent attorney licensed before the State of California and the US Patent and Trademark Office. 

 

Michael | Attorney at Law

Michael is an attorney licensed before the States of Texas and Alabama. 

  Abed | Patent Agent

Abed assists with patent preparation and prosecution matters and studied mechanical engineering as an undergraduate.

 
RECENT UDRP WINS
Mr. Rinehart's recent wins include fbomb.comboss.combullex.com, fpscheats.comukhouseclearances.com, and graduateschool.com and graduateschools.com, bitzip.com, bitzip.org and bitzip.net, spudos.com, pass-guarantee.com, royalnissan.com, mia.com, lawspeak.com, frankrisalvato.com, digitalaccesspass.com, resume pro, houseofflags.com, trijiconrilescopes.com, trijiconstore.com, elitefts.com, petpeoplesplace.com, climacab.comfpsrussia, purepostcards.comjonahhunt.comphaseeight.com, teraflex.com; ezq.com, and tinyprint.com (finding reverse domain name hijacking against CitizenHawk)  For a list of representative clients, click here.
RECENT COURT WINS
ezq.com (won federal ex parte TRO forcing VeriSign to strip this three-letter domain from its Chinese registrant and deliver to California corp); ksoftware.com (won federal court transfer order in Virginia stripping this domain from its Caribbean registrant for Kentucky corp); truckmaster.com (won domain in settlement during ACPA federal case after removing from state court and after UDRP loss); bullex.com (won federal transfer order stripping this domain from its Korean registrant for New York corp); websitelawyer.com (a rare case invovling state jurisdiction in which a state court ordered VeriSign to seize and change domain registration from the Cayman Islands);
 ACPA LITIGATION

Cybersquatting is illegal.  Cybersquatting is the act of registering a domain name that should belong to another.  We may be able to take a domain from anyone in the world under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) or the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP).  Our own domain name was won by us in court (see the transfer order here).  We are licensed attorneys in Virginia, where most ACPA actions against foreign domain name registrants must be commenced.  The ACPA allows business owners to take domain names incorporating their business or brands from other parties who have registered those domains.  Let our expertise benefit you.  We offer flat fee representation in all cases for client convenient.  We help with gripe sites, typosquatting, cybersquatting, reputation management, and libel/slander problems online. 

 WEBSITE ATTORNEY
Steven Rinehart focuses his practice on Internet domain name disputes. Regardless of where on Earth you reside or do business, Steve may be able to help you strip a domain name from another by filing a ACPA complaint.  He is licensed in Virginia, where most ACPA cases have to be filed.  He can also help defent you against an ACPA action wrongfully initiated by another party. He has been featured as expert on Internet law in the ECT News and Associated Press, and is one of the few, if not only, litigators to offer contingency representation to all new ACPA clients (meaning you only pay if you win).  Please call him at: (801) 347-5173 for a free consultation, or email him.  For a list of representative clients click here.
WHAT DOES THE ACPA PROCESS ENTAIL AND HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

ACPA lawsuits against registrants of foreign domain names are usually filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  The party filing the ACPA lawsuit (the plaintiff) makes the filing with our assistance.  Generally, default judgment can be secured in Virginia within two months if the defendant does not respond, which they typically do not. After we file the ACPA lawsuit, we have the defendant served who then has twenty (20) days to answer the complaint. Often the defendant will not answer, in which case the plaintiff generally wins by default.  This is why most ACPA cases invoked in rem jurisdiction are won -- because the defendant simply failed to respond. We can advise you on the merits and drawbacks of ACPA litigation as it compares to other avenues of recovery, such as UDRP proceedings.

 WHAT IS AN ACPA LAWSUIT?
WE CAN HELP YOU FILE AN ACPA LAWSUIT
Under the ACPA, a trademark owner may bring a cause of action against a domain name registrant who (1) has a bad faith intent to profit from the mark and (2) registers, traffics in, or uses a domain name that is (a) identical or confusingly similar to a distinctive mark, (b) identical or confusingly similar to or dilutive of a famous mark.  Even if you have never formally registered your trademark with the US government, we can likely still establish that you have common law trademark rights in your business name and/or brand (this is a trademark that arises naturally without any registration).  Most ACPA lawsuits are filed in Virginia, where gTLDs (generic top-level domains) are thought to be located.  We are licensed attorneys in Virginia, and happy to file an ACPA action there to take a domain wrongfully registered by a party in a foreign country.
 CONTINGENCY FEE REPRESENTATION
We often represent clients in ACPA actions on contigency, meaning we will represent you free or charge unless, or until, you win. If we decide your case has merit -- and the cases of most people who contact us do have merit -- we will offer you the option of paying us a flat fee up front or of paying us nothing up front and a larger amount only if you win. We may require that contingent fees be escrowed in some cases before hand.
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Signed Domain Transfer Order