Claimed Lawyer ProfileBlawg SearchSocial Media
Tony T. Liu
Anaheim, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 21 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Personal Injury and Stockbroker Fraud
Chapman University Fowler School of Law, Chapman University Fowler School of Law and Golden Gate University School of Law
Law Offices of Tony T. Liu is a criminal and civil trial firm located in Orange County, California. Mr. Liu is aggressive but cautious, focused but flexible, thorough but always efficient. He listens to and works with his clients to identify litigation goals, then to develop and implement cost-effective strategy and tactics. He constantly attempts to re-evaluate and reassess these objectives and methods as the litigation landscape shifts, to ensure that the litigation continues to serve the client’s objectives, and not vice versa.
As a trial attorney, he knows how and what is needed win the case if it goes...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileQ&ASocial Media
Marin Cionca
Orange, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 17 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Patents and Trademarks
Concord Law School
Since 2009, Mr. Cionca is a registered patent attorney and founder of CIONCA IP Law P.C. ("CIONCA IP"), an intellectual property law practice based in Irvine, Orange County, California. He has an extensive technical background having graduated from a five-year European engineering program, having practical engineering experience and having taught College Physics. He helps clients with patent application and prosecution matters in various technologies including, engineering, computer, software, mechanical, physics-related and medical device technologies.
He also helps startups and businesses acquire and enforce their intellectual property rights in patents, trademarks, trade secrets and other IP, such as by sending cease...
Claimed Lawyer Profile
Austin Bonderer
Fullerton, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 19 years of experience
IP and Patents
The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
Claimed Lawyer Profile
Brian N. Gurwitz
Tustin, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 30 years of experience
IP, Business and Criminal Defense
McGeorge School of Law Univ of the Pacific
Claimed Lawyer Profile
Edward Ray Flores
Tustin, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 31 years of experience
IP, Animal, Business and Criminal Defense
Claimed Lawyer ProfileQ&ABlawg SearchSocial MediaResponsive Law
Michael Cohen
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 21 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Patents and Trademarks
Southwestern University School of Law
Mr. Cohen is the founder and principal of the Cohen IP Law Group, P.C. His practice involves intellectual property, business and entertainment law.
Mr. Cohen is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney and is experienced in all phases of IP litigation relating to patent infringement validity and enforceability, trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and interference with contractual relations. He specializes in matters involving UDRP proceedings, cybersquatting, and other domain name issues, and has successfully obtained preliminary injunctions against cybersquatters.
Mr. Cohen is also active...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileQ&ASocial Media
Karima Gulick
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 9 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Patents and Trademarks
Western State College of Law at Argosy University
Karima is an intellectual property lawyer and registered patent attorney. Karima litigates and helps clients obtain patents and trademarks in diverse industries. She helps business owners build, strengthen, and protect their brands and ideas. She has experience in all areas of intellectual property law including trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets, domain name disputes, and eBay disputes. Karima brings a unique perspective to intellectual property issues drawing on years of engineering and managerial experience.
Need help protecting or enforcing your ideas? Contact us at 949-429-0212 or email karima@kgulick.com
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Elizabeth Yang
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 17 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Patents and Trademarks
University of La Verne College of Law
Elizabeth Yang has been practicing law since 2007 and specializes in Intellectual Property Law, including Patent, Copyright and Trademark Prosecution and Litigation; Business Law, including corporate entity formation, contract drafting, contract disputes, litigation; and Family Law, including divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, and asset division. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Elizabeth was admitted to the United States Patent & Trademark office in 2007. At the age of 19, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley in two and a half years. In 2011, Elizabeth founded Yang & Wang, P.C., a boutique...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Mark B. Wilson
Newport Beach, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 36 years of experience
IP, Business, Legal Malpractice and Trademarks
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
A seasoned trial attorney and skilled negotiator, Mark B. Wilson has won nearly every case he has tried and arbitrated. Mr. Wilson lost only one jury trial and obtained a complete reversal on appeal. He has 13 jury trials, 16 court trials, and 14 binding arbitrations under his belt.
Mr. Wilson represents clients in federal and state courts in a variety of matters, including business litigation, legal malpractice, real estate, trade secrets, unfair competition, copyright infringement, construction disputes, and commercial unlawful detainer.
Mr. Wilson’s victories include an $18.5 million binding arbitration award in a breach of contract case, a $2.25 million jury...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileQ&ASocial Media
Steve Charles Vondran
Newport Beach, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 20 years of experience
(877) 276-5084
620 Newport Center Dr
Suite 1100
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Free ConsultationIP, Communications, Entertainment & Sports and Trademarks
Whittier Law School
Our law firm is a leader in intellectual property and piracy law. We have handled more software audits and torrent defense lawsuits than most other firms combined. We have a niche speciality practice in copyright infringement law and handle the following types of cases:
1. Software Audits and Licensing Disputes (Business Software Alliance, BSA, SIIA, Vero, Siemens, Solidworks, Autodesk, Adobe and Microsoft)
2. Torrent Defense Cases (ex. Malibu Media pornography, Flava Works and Strike 3 Holdings, LLC BitTorrent litigation cases in California Federal Court in the Southern, Central, Eastern and Northern District)
3. TV Signal Piracy cases (boxing...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileQ&ASocial Media
Lynne M.J. Boisineau
Westminster, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 23 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP and Trademarks
Whittier Coll School of Law
I focus my practice on trademark prosecution, counseling, enforcement and licensing, as well as providing trademark litigation support and Right of Publicity and copyright protection. I assist clients with social media problems and Amazon Brand Registry issues. I have significant experience in domain name proceedings under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) System. I earned a ranking in the World Trademark Review 1000: The World's Leading Trademark Professionals (2014-2018). And I co-authored the Right of Publicity Chapter of the ABA's book on digital content and intellectual property issues.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Brian P. Kinder
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 24 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP and Trademarks
Pepperdine University School of Law and Southwestern University School of Law
Brian P. Kinder is managing partner of The Kinder Law Group, APC. He practices exclusively in the field of Intellectual Property ("IP") and is one of only a handful of Southern California attorneys who have been honored as Super Lawyers®, Rising Stars in this area of the law. For more than a decade, he has helped his clients to develop and protect their valuable IP rights throughout the world and is well-versed in both domestic and international patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, false advertising and franchise laws.
On the development side of his practice (i.e., transactional work), Mr....
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Jordan F Kohler
San Diego, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 10 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Communications and Trademarks
California Western School of Law
Kohler Legal is a business law firm that provides personalized legal services for startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs. Services include entity formation, contract drafting or review, IP assessment and protection, trademark and copyright registration, licensing agreements, and more. In addition, Kohler Legal has a unique focus on providing affordable legal solutions for new and emerging Internet businesses.
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Sebastian Gibson
Corona del Mar, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 47 years of experience
3541 Lilac Ave.
Corona del Mar, CA 92625
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Personal Injury and Trademarks
Univ of San Diego School of Law and Cardiff University
With over 45 years of experience, Attorney Sebastian Gibson serves Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Newport Beach, Malibu, Temecula, Orange County and all of California specializing in car and big rig truck accident personal injury, business, film & TV, publishing, modeling, entertainment law, HOA disputes, branding, trademarks, copyrights, & corporate law, and has extensive expertise in drafting, and reviewing a wide variety of contracts from personal management and talent agency agreements, modeling contracts, literary agency and book publishing agreements, business contracts, health care, med spas, mobile IV hydration and mobile medical clinics, intellectual property, winery trademarks, civil law, celebrity law, publicity...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Tina K Gehres
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 27 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Employment and Trademarks
Saint Louis University School of Law
Tina has dissolved Gehres Law Group to focus on building a NFP organization, YesHope.org. She is no longer taking clients. Thank you for your patronage.
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Dan W Kehr
Huntington Beach , CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 20 years of experience
(714) 375-6622
17011 Beach Blvd. Huntington Beach, CA 92647
9th Floor
Huntington Beach , CA 92647
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Estate Planning and Trademarks
California Western School of Law and UCLA School of Law
What makes me unique is that I am both a Business Owner and a Corporate & Business Law Attorney. I actually started my first business at age 8 when I launched “Dan’s Bird Farm.”
As the owner of the Kehr Business Law PC, I provide business, corporate general counsel, technology, Internet, e-commerce and tax law, as well as trust, will, estate and succession planning legal services. I founded, managed and have run my own law firm for over 17 years. My experience as a business owner makes me uniquely suited to approach legal representation from the business owner’s perspective. I...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Imran Farooq Vakil
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 17 years of experience
IP, Business, Patents and Trademarks
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
For all your trademark and copyright litigation needs, call Imran! (949) 478-6831
Imran F. Vakil is an intellectual property lawyer and business litigator. Having been attorney of record in over four hundred state and federal cases, TTAB actions, arbitrations, and mediations, Imran has expertise in the litigation of trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, trade secrets, patents, unfair competition and commercial disputes. With an excellent record, Imran has successfully generated tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for his clients. Since 2009, and every year thereafter, Imran has been selected for inclusion in the California Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list, an...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileBlawg SearchSocial Media
Ali Shalchi
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 19 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Patents and Trademarks
University of Iowa College of Law
Ali focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and transactions, with a focus on patent litigation and drafting. He is registered to practice before the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). He has litigated large patent cases involving cutting edge technologies including semiconductors, telecommunications, consumer electronics, and medical devices. Mr. Shalchi obtained his B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from UCSD in 1998, where he completed several research projects on computer modeling of cardiac mechanics. He also received an M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering, with a focus on MEMS (MicroElectroMechanicalSystems) & Semiconductor Fabrication, from UCLA in 2002. While at UCLA, he...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileBlawg SearchSocial Media
Gregory S. Cordrey
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 27 years of experience
IP, Business and Patents
University of Southern California Gould School of Law
I am an accomplished Patent, Intellectual Property, Litigation and Business law attorney. Based in California, with cases throughout the United States, my practice includes a wide array of industries.
With over 20 years of experience, a M.B.A. and B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, I offer comprehensive representation for complex technology and patent law matters. I aggressively advocate for the best possible outcomes. I have also received numerous honors, including recognition as Lawyer of the Year for Litigation-Patent Law by Best Lawyers.
Outside of work, I enjoy reading, skiing, and traveling. Additionally, my wife, daughter and I are enthusiastic sports fans.
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
David Jafari
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 24 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Employment and Trademarks
Western State College of Law at Argosy University
www.jafarilawgroup.com _______ David Jafari opened the doors to Jafari Law Group in 2005. His practice has focused primarily on intellectual property, business law, and employment matters. In regard to intellectual property, Mr. Jafari has helped secure dozens of patents and dozens of trademarks for various clients, including individuals and business entities. Furthermore, Mr. Jafari has represented clients in over seventy litigation cases dealing with business, employment, and intellectual property related issues. Mr. Jafari has also served as a mediator and has helped clients settle cases outside of court. He holds a Certificate in Mediation from the Orange County Human...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Anthony James Dispoto
Newport Beach, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 9 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Real Estate and Trademarks
University of San Diego School of Law
Experienced attorney with a demonstrated knowledge of commercial real estate, business and corporate law. Skilled in contract drafting and review, legal research and negotiations. Strong customer service focus and desire to help all individuals.
Education:
-Bachelor's of Arts in Business Management with emphasis in Legal Studies from California State University, Fullerton
-Juris Doctorat with emphasis in Corporate and Business Law from University of San Diego, School of Law
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Michael Burke
Newport Beach, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 36 years of experience
(949) 423-6422
4000 MacArthur Blvd
Suite 600 East Tower
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Employment and Health Care
University of California - Los Angeles
Business lawyer and litigator with diverse experience representing closely held companies, private equity firms, and other business enterprises. My experience as general counsel and on corporate boards gives me a big picture overview to business transactions, business decision processes, and complex litigation management. I also bring that same sensibility to bear on trial and appellate strategy. An acknowledged litigation expert and speaker, I am frequently consulted by other lawyers for trial strategy, business strategy, and ethics issues.
I handle matters in the following areas: business litigation and unfair competition cases, shareholder litigation and partnership disputes, employment...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Allan Howard Grant
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 23 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Patents and Trademarks
California Western School of Law
Grant’s Law Firm, is a business oriented law firm composed of experienced attorneys delivering aggressive and innovative services in a cost-effective manner. While we offer the kind of work product, expected from a large law firm, we retain small firm efficiency and focus on personalized service to individuals, businesses and business owners throughout Orange County, Riverside County, and Los Angeles County, California.
Our business lawyers craft creative and efficient solutions to various legal problems, no matter how complex the issues may be. In doing so, we seek to build long term relationships with our clients, so that we can contribute to...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileBlawg SearchSocial Media
Robert Scott Lawrence
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 29 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Environmental and Insurance Claims
Northwestern University School of Law
My law practice encompasses a broad variety of litigation matters, ranging from complex commercial disputes to white collar criminal defense. I have represented clients in federal and state courts in cases involving copyright and trademark infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, securities violations, bank fraud, tax fraud, toxic torts, unfair competition, and civil and criminal racketeering. I also have extensive experience in commercial mediation and arbitration.
Most recently, my work has involved class action litigation involving wage and hour claims; a partnership dispute over a multi-million dollar capital call; and a variety of intellectual property and business disputes in Los Angeles...
Claimed Lawyer Profile
Michael S. LeBoff
Newport Beach, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 25 years of experience
IP, Business, Legal Malpractice and Trademarks
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Michael S. LeBoff brings nearly 25 years of business trial practice to Klein & Wilson, handling and winning high-stakes trials and arbitrations.
Michael represents clients of all sizes in a wide variety of business cases, including shareholder, partnership and joint venture disputes, trade secret claims, fraud, breach of contract, business torts, real estate, attorney fee disputes and legal malpractice actions.
Michael attended Loyola Law School on a full academic scholarship, graduating second in his class of nearly 400 students. At Loyola, Michael received countless academic awards and served as an editor for the Loyola Law Review.
After graduating from law school,...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileBlawg SearchSocial Media
Stanley M. Gibson
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 30 years of experience
IP, Business and Patents
Duke University School of Law
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Joseph J. Mellema
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 17 years of experience
IP, Business and Patents
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and University of Southern California
Joe Mellema's practice focuses on litigation in federal and state courts, including the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, and business and commercial disputes. He has handled patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, unfair business practices, antitrust, and business and commercial lawsuits in all phases of litigation and arbitration.
Joe is well-versed in patent and trademark enforcement, preparation and prosecution, as well as trademark enforcement and opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent & Trademark Office. He has considerable experience litigating patents in a variety of technical fields, including optical devices and components, computer...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Michael Ahmadshahi
Newport Beach, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 22 years of experience
(800) 747-6081
4695 MacArthur Court, Suite 1100
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Patents and Trademarks
Western State University College of Law
Mr. Ahmadshahi's area of practice is Intellectual Property Laws including Patent Prosecution and Litigation, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Unfair Business Practices. Before starting his firm, Mr. Ahmadshahi was a partner at Law Offices of Kayhan S. Shakib where he practiced intellectual property law as well as general law focusing on litigation in the areas of real estate, business, and personal injury cases.
Prior to the practice of law, Mr. Ahmadshahi was a staff scientist at C.E. Niehoff & Co., a defense contractor which manufactures state-of-the-art generators for military vehicles. Mr. Ahmadshahi also held the position of Research Engineer with the University of...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileBlawg SearchSocial Media
Joseph A. Mandour
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 27 years of experience
IP, Patents and Trademarks
Cumberland School of Law, Samford University
Joseph Mandour is the managing partner of Mandour & Associates, APC. He received his Juris Doctorate in 1995. Since then, he has been providing legal representation to businesses facing intellectual property issues.
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Nathan Camuti
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 11 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Patents and Trademarks
Chapman University Fowler School of Law
Nate is a registered patent attorney with a full-service intellectual property law practice. His focus is on helping inventors, entrepreneurs, and businesses identify and protect their intellectual property. Nate has extensive experience with patent applications, trademark applications, copyright registration, and enforcing his client’s intellectual property rights.
In addition to serving his clients, Nate stays active in the legal community. He has served four years on the Board of Directors for the Orange County Intellectual Property Law Association (OCIPLA) where he is currently the Secretary. Nate is also a Member of the Board of Directors for Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law’s...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Michael Bassiri
Newport Beach, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 27 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business and Employment
Univ of West Los Angeles
Michael Bassiri's real life experience as general counsel and President of a $100 Million Dollar company is invaluable.
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Rolando Javellana Tong
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 23 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP and Patents
Loyola Law School
Roland Tong has over a decade of experience in IP litigation and Patent Prosecution. Cases handled by Mr. Tong include patent lawsuits in industries, such as automotive, mobile phones, manufacturing, and printer cartridge remanufacturing. He also represents computer software, gaming device, medical device, and sports equipment companies in obtaining US and foreign patents and trademarks. Passionate about IP law, he has authored various legal articles that have been published in highly respected publications and newsletter.
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Craig McLaughlin
Seal Beach, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 28 years of experience
IP, Business, Patents and Trademarks
Whittier Law School
The firm represents individuals and businesses and handles cases on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants involving patents, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, copyright, unfair competition, false advertising, defamation, violations of U.S. Customs and other civil litigation in both state and federal courts. As principal of the firm, Craig McLaughlin is an efficient litigator and trial lawyer experienced in intellectual property matters and other civil litigation. The firm is focused on protecting its clients' intellectual property and reputation. A list of accomplishments for clients is available on the firm's website.
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Eric Blaine Alspaugh
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 20 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP and Patents
Univ of San Diego School of Law
Eric works with technology companies to increase revenue and value while reducing risks from employees and operations. Eric is an expert in FDA regulated products with experience in human clinical trials all over the Untied States, Europe and Asia.
Claimed Lawyer Profile
Craig B. Sanders
Suite 450, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 31 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Consumer and Trademarks
University of Pennsylvania Law School and University of Pennsylvania Law School
Craig Sanders is the founding partner of the Sanders Law Group and a senior trial attorney. During the course of his more than thirty-year professional career, Mr. Sanders has handled complex civil litigation matters throughout the nations Federal Courts. Focusing his career on intellectual property (copyright and trademark infringement litigation), consumer protection, litigation and employment matters, Mr. Sanders oversees the Firm’s Intellectual Property Department and Trial Department. In addition to his IP experience, Mr. Sanders is also well-versed in commercial litigation having represented businesses in contract disputes, partnership dissolutions, shareholder disputes and derivative actions, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileResponsive Law
Alexis Joaquin Saenz
Riverside, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 20 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP
Loyola Law School
The proprietor, Mr. Alexis Saenz is a patent attorney with nearly a decade of experience. He has prepared hundreds of patent applications and responses to the USPTO. He has an upfront approach guiding clients early on in what to expect out of the patent process.
His emphasis of practice is with start-up ventures and mid-size companies in the growth stage. Having work experience with a start-up company has provided him with keen insights on the successes and pitfalls growing companies encounter. Alexis is active in start-up communities and local chambers of commerce often lending an ear to those businesses needing a...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
David Mirkin Zeligs
Long Beach, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 42 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Business, Estate Planning and Trademarks
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
Established in 1990, the Law Offices of David M. Zeligs has delivered quality legal services to its clients with professionalism and integrity for a quarter century. Based on our firm’s philosophy of putting the client’s needs first, we provide individualized services based on your realistic legal needs and expectations for a reasonable price.
David M. Zeligs graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) in 1978 with a B.A. degree in Politics. In 1982, prior to receiving his undergraduate degree, he took time off from college and traveled for six months throughout Latin America. Along the way, he lived...
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial MediaResponsive Law
Leanne R. E. Torres
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Attorney with 7 years of experience
IP, Business and International
Chapman University Fowler School of Law and Kingston University
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Steven Lawrence Krongold
Irvine, CA Intellectual Property Lawyer with 38 years of experience
Free ConsultationIP, Arbitration & Mediation, Business and Trademarks
Loyola Law School
Nearly 30 years of litigation experience in state and federal courts. Specialize in representing small and mid-size businesses in variety of commercial disputes.