law founded 1996 founder michael greenberg and stevan lieberman headquarters k street washington dc united states services dealing with intellectual property trademark infringements domain names virtual worlds and software number of employees 9 attorneys website website greenberg & lieberman is a national and international law firm based in washington d.c. established in 1996 by michael greenberg and stevan lieberman the firm is known for its expertise in the technology law areas of intellectual property trademark infringements domain names virtual worlds and software and is among the 16 most influential entities in the field of domain names . 1 2 a boutique law firm greenberg & lieberman credited for being among the first in the world to begin generating a significant revenue and client base via online virtual worlds such as second life . 3 greenberg & lieberman are also noted for their involvement with media law and military law . 4 contents 1 background and areas of expertise 2 history 2.1 1990s 2.2 2000s 2.3 2010s 3 attorneys 3.1 members 3.1.1 michael greenberg 3.1.2 stevan lieberman 3.2 of counsel 3.2.1 john b. anderson 3.2.2 phillip s. corwin 3.2.3 mike lebowitz 3.2.4 howard a. newman 3.2.5 david shaheen 3.2.6 jonathan westreich 3.3 senior attorney 3.3.1 debora mccormick 4 references 5 external links background and areas of expertise edit the washington d.c. based national and international law firm greenberg & lieberman was established in 1996 . the firm s headquarters are located on k street nw in the k street corridor neighborhood in northwest washington d.c. 5 the firm is registered to practice before the u.s. patent and trademark office uspto . the company has a particular focus on computer internet law copyrights and patent prosecution for small businesses . 6 since its establishment it has been recognized in the media and in the field of law for its expertise in intellectual property issues like domain and trademark law and reverse domain hijacking and has been quoted in outlets such as the washington post cnn associated press kansas city star and usa today . 7 a boutique law firm 8 greenberg & lieberman is one of the first law firms in the world to venture into virtual world platforms such as second life and are amongst the virtual world s earning elite . 9 10 11 business news express has described greenberg & lieberman as being the rare law firm that possesses the resources of any large international firm while maintaining individual personalized contact between the firm s attorneys and its clients . 12 as part of greenberg & lieberman lieberman and greenberg have filed almost 300 trademarks and over 560 patent files as of september 2011 serving over 20 000 clients . 6 many of their patent cases involve what is termed as a utility patent ranging from electronics and consumer goods to online business and software applications . 13 a great deal of the work conducted by the firm centers around trademark disputes and they have been involved in legal cases from small businesses to global corporations such as microsoft and nike . the firm also offers to register trademarks formally for companies concerned with such issues to protect their brand names logos or taglines by initiating research through screening the uspto and the internet to ensure that trademarks proposed are not too similar to any existing one and filing an application through the uspto and community trade mark ctm for european union registration . 13 greenberg & lieberman extend their work in trademarks to copyright infringement and defense and are adept at obtaining copyrights for computer software web page designs and screen displays and applying for copyright licensing contracts after evaluation . 14 since its establishment in 1996 the firm has been heavily involved with internet and new media law involving intellectual property and uniform domain name dispute resolution policy udrp over domain names which form a high percentage of their notable cases . the company is a proponent of technological development and in understanding the way online communication is evolving has branched out into virtual reality ; they are credited with being among the first in the world to begin generating a significant revenue and client base via online virtual worlds such as second life . 3 15 greenberg & lieberman also have a long history of preparing and negotiating contractual agreements from large corporations to small businesses and arranging licensing agreements . 16 although they are best known for dealing with intellectual property issues greenberg & lieberman have considerable experience dealing with military law issues with attorneys on board such as mike lebowitz an expert in military expression with firsthand judge advocate general s corps jag and combat experience . the company has expertise in military law issues such as the correction of military records courts martial defense administrative separation defense military expression and free speech issues awol concerns and whistleblowing . 17 history edit 1990s edit after the establishment of greenberg & lieberman in 1996 one of their earliest notable cases was a successful motion to dismiss copyright infringement suit based on lack of personal jurisdiction in evan k. aidman v. mark s. nelson in 1999 . 18 in september 1999 19 the firm was involved in a motion to dismiss patent infringement matter in molnlycke health care ab v. dumex medical surgical a notable case in internet law . 20 21 2000s edit in 2000 the firm was involved in a trademark infringement matter in the national jewish defense league jdl v. mordechai levy case which ended in november 2002 when jdl chairman irv rubin died in suspicious circumstances in jail 22 and defended against copyright infringement in the studio martis b.v. v. joseph d. wager smith case . in 2001 greenberg & lieberman were involved in a trademark matter concerning apache boats v. mark mcmanus and made a motion to dismiss in the ramfan corporation v. super vacuum manufacturing case . in 2002 their involvement in the ramsey v. schutt et al. in the maryland state circuit court for charles county was influential in changing the rule in maryland pertaining to what is necessary in a contract to obviate liability . in 2003 greenberg & lieberman was involved in several udrp or trademark infringement disputes such as size inc. v. future media architects jensen research v. future media architects internet development corp v. titlesoft internet development corp v. senetek quantum software systems ltd v. future media architects and a copyright infringement case future media architects v. corey richardson . in 2004 the firm continued to represent future media architects and internet development corporation in a series of disputes over udrp and trademark infringements and other matters including representing future media architects against cool inc. qnx 23 capital networks pty ltd punto verde murat yikilmaz and hay napa international and representing internet development corporation against b.s.a. corporation at maryland district court 24 freightliner and lactel . in 2005 greenberg & lieberman were involved in the federal court and mediation in the ariadne genomics v. stratagene california dispute . they were hired by mastercard international incorporated v. priceless.com to settle a trademark matter . the firm also represented clients in several udrp cases such as eurochannel inc. v. mrs. jello weld racing inc. v. web development group ltd. and rcs recover services v. john laxton rl.com a case which is still ongoing as of september 2011 . in 2006 they represented h2ocean against schmitt april s after care and april s attic in a case which was settled and was involved in udrp disputes such as equifax inc v. the tidewinds group inc. marchex v. name development corp. and thomas weisel partners group inc. v. tom weisel house of entertainment . 25 in 2007 greenberg & lieberman were hired by businessman antonis polemitis in a case against ville de paris a municipal corporation of the city of paris at the virginia eastern district court involving the lanham act 26 in which the client claimed tortious interference with contract and defamation . they also represented some major global firms in trademark matters such as nike inc. v. niyad enterprise in california central district court 27 microsoft v. domain source inc. and udrp cases such as hsbc finance corp. v. whois privacy protection service inc. and payday america inc. v. xedoc holding sa . in 2008 greenberg & lieberman were involved in a trademark domain matter between air china and airchina.com and with lg electronics usa and lg.com . they were also hired in a second life case between chris mead and jakob hyvarinen and in the udrp cases of blue magic inc. v. johns creak software inc. and genzyme corporation v. abadaba s.a. . in 2009 they were again hired by abadaba in a trademark matter against microsoft and by 411 pain against rafael foss . they also represented dentist alex mcmillan iv v. tom winkler case in a dispute over cybersquatting . the alexandria circuit court ruled in favor of their client mcmillan in a case which involved a legal action initiated against a former employee charged with trademark infringement trade secret violations and domain theft . 28 lieberman has said 2009 was most definitely an interesting year . we saw a large number of corporations verizon microsoft & costco to just mention a few taking the scorched earth point of view and suing everyone they can even individuals and entities that no longer owned the alleged infringing domain names . this of course led to a large number of confidential settlements which it can be assumed were all rather painful to those paying to end the lawsuits . 29 2010s edit in 2010 greenberg & lieberman were involved in copyright cases in the john m. smith vs gosmile inc. dispute settled and began representing the second life firm amaretto ranch breedables llc v. ozimals inc. in a copyright infringement case which began in california northern district court on 15 december 2010 overlooked by judge charles r. breyer . 30 the dispute involved a dmca takedown notice dispute between companies that produce virtual animals on second life . ozimals filed a dmca takedown notice claiming that amaretto s horse infringed on their bunnies . consequently amaretto filed for a temporary restraining order against linden research the makers of second life . this was granted and held in effect as the case proceeded . the court denied ozimal s motion on 22 april 2011 to dismiss amaretto s ucl claim but granted their motion to dismiss amaretto s common law unfair competition claim for failure to state a claim . greenberg & lieberman were also active in the warren weitzman v. lead networks trademark case and were hired by ergo baby inc. v. amaya lucy in a udrp case . 31 in 2011 greenberg & lieberman were again hired by ergo to represent them in another udrp case against henghao zhan jianzong and by value eyecare network inc. in a dispute against chengbiao zhan . in april 2011 they lost a case representing rabbi shmuel herzfeld of the modern orthodox national synagogue in northwest washington when u.s. district court judge emmet g. sullivan denied the request of the rabbi to have an upcoming local election rescheduled because it conflicted with the jewish passover . 32 attorneys edit as of 2011 there are 9 attorneys working for the firm . various members of the firm have testified to the us congress as legal experts in fields such as intellectual property and military law . members edit michael greenberg edit main article michael greenberg lawyer michael greenberg is a legal expert in intellectual property law and patent law . greenberg a graduate of union college and franklin pierce law center in 1993 has a background in the fields of biochemistry economics and sociology . 33 after graduating from union college greenberg undertook his judicial clerkship with the honorable l. leonard ruben of the 6th judicial circuit of maryland in 1992 . greenberg is a member of the maryland state