An attorney and founder of The GigaLaw Firm, Doug Isenberg is a recognized leader on Internet law; a domain name panelist; and a frequent author and speaker on Internet legal issues. He has also served as an adjunct professor of computer and cyberspace law.

The World Trademark Review has said that Doug is “a whiz on all things to do with Internet law and domain names” (World’s Leading Trademark Professionals, 2015 edition); and the Atlanta Business Chronicle has called him an “international authority on Internet law” (September 22, 2006). He has regularly been included in the The Best Lawyers in America for technology law.

Doug has worked with clients on domain name transactions and disputes since 1996 and today represents some of the world’s largest and best-known brands with respect to their Internet legal matters — including the largest complaint ever filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), which resulted in an order transferring 1,519 domain names to a single client in 2009. He also serves as a domain name panelist for five dispute providers (see below), including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

During ICANN's expansion of the domain name system in 2012, Doug represented trademark owners and domain name applicants in objection proceedings.

Prior to launching The GigaLaw Firm, Doug practiced law at a large firm (Alston & Bird), at a medium-sized intellectual property firm (Needle & Rosenberg, now a part of Ballard Spahr) and as in-house counsel for a global marketing company that represented the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Doug is the founder of two Internet companies and, before practicing law, was a newspaper reporter and magazine editor.

Domain Name Dispute Experience

In addition to representing clients in domain name disputes, Doug also serves as a domain name panelist for:

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva

• The Forum (formerly the National Arbitration Forum), Minneapolis

• Czech Arbitration Court (CAC), Prague

• Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), Hong Kong office of the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (ADNDRC)

• Canadian International Internet Dispute Resolution Centre (CIIDRC)

In these roles, Doug has written more than 300 decisions on domain name disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) and various country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) dispute policies. He attends an annual meeting of domain name panelists every fall at WIPO in Geneva.

Industry and Community Involvement

Doug has held numerous civic and professional leadership positions. During his tenure (2005-06) as chair of the of the State Bar of Georgia’s Intellectual Property Law Section, the group won a “Section of the Year Award” for service to its 900 members. He is a founding board member of the Georgia Intellectual Property Alliance and the US IP Alliance and is currently a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA); and ICANN's Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC). Doug served as a member of the ADL Anti-Cyberhate Working Group; was a charter member of the Atlanta Intellectual Property Inn of Court; and was a founding member of the Intellectual Property Advisory Board at Georgia State University College of Law. He also served as a member of the Wolters Kluwer Computer Law, Intellectual Property, and Privacy Law (CLIPP) Advisory Council.

Writing and Speaking

Doug's book, The GigaLaw Guide to Internet Law (published by Random House in 2002), has been praised as “well worth the time to read” by Vint Cerf, one of the widely recognized “fathers of the Internet” and a former chairman of ICANN. Doug also wrote a special report titled “The Internet, Copyright, and You,” for The 2002 World Book Year Book, and was a legal columnist for Internet World magazine.

Doug has been a frequent commentator on technology law, including on-air analysis for CNN and CNN Headline News. He has also been quoted on issues relating to Internet law by the mainstream, computing and legal media, including PC Magazine, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, the Los Angeles Times, the ABA Journal, Wired News, Business 2.0, ZDNet, Village Voice and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Doug's GigaLaw blog has been recognized by the ABA Journal as one of the top 100 best blogs for a legal audience and has earned a permanent place in The Expert Institute's Best Legal Blog Hall of Fame.

Education

Doug received his undergraduate degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was an editor at the student newspaper, a campus tour guide and a member of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He spent one semester in Washington, D.C., as a research assistant for David Gergen, who at the time was editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report magazine. He received his law degree, cum laude, from Georgia State University College of Law, where he was associate editor for lead articles for the college’s Law Review. During Doug's time as a law student, he served as student editor of the ABA Journal and received a first-place prize at the law school for his entry in ASCAP’s Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition, “Pirates on the Cyberspace Seas: Criminal Copyright Infringement of Computer Software.”

Personal

Doug has been married for more than 25 years and has three sons. He grew up and lives in Atlanta. He enjoys technology, fitness, reading (mostly non-fiction), and magic.