Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Virginia

Re: Website registration

This is a frustrating situation I'm sure. I'm a little confused by your message: did you pay or not? You mentioned that "this time I forgot" but then you also state that you've "been paying." If you didn't pay your bill, then they have the right to sell the domain to someone else.

Have you registered your domain as a trademark? Is your website domain name distinctive? You may have some remedies under federal Lanham Act.

Re: Website registration

I think you are looking for the wrong type of attorney. You need a tort attorney specializing in contracts. What you seem to be saying is the registration provider was negligent in not sending you proper notice that your account required payment. I suggest you read any contracts you entered when you origiannly signed on. Typically these define your remedies, if they exist, and they may prevent you from bring a lawsuit. Further, if you were at fault for not updating your address, you may have no standing to sue. Lastly, litigation is very expensive. Costs will probably prevent effective litigation unless you can find some prevision to assert costs against the other party.