Professional Documents
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Ripoff Report
Attn: Legal Department
PO Box 310
Tempe, AZ 85280
legal@ripoffreport.com
Our law firm represents Zarin Medical, LLC; Jeffrey Knight; and Lee Pannell. On
November 22, 2016, they sued Matthew Rousso, a Colorado resident, in the District Court for
the District of Mesa County, Colorado. They brought claims against him for copyright
infringement (17 U.S.C. 106 and 501), false advertising under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C.
1125(a)(1)(B)), and trade secret misappropriation (C.R.S. 7-74-102103).
The lawsuit alleged Mr. Rousso violated our clients intellectual property rights under
federal and state statutes when he used Ripoff Reports corporate resources, in violation of its
Terms of Service, to unlawfully send Ripoff Report information that Ripoff Report then
published via its Webpage for Review 1335542 (Webpage). See Exhibit 1 Verified Complaint,
Zarin Medical et al v. Rousso, Mesa County District Court Case 2016CV30832. The Webpages
uniform resource locator is http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Zarin-Medical-LLC/Knoxville-
Tennessee-37934/Zarin-Medical-LLC-Zarin-Medical-Piqo4Naturalase-QS-2JFocus-Medical-
LaserJeff-NightLee-Pa-1335542. Id.
On November 30, 2016, Mr. Rousso, who was represented by an attorney, filed his
Answer. See Exhibit 2 Answer, Zarin Medical et al v. Rousso, Mesa County District Court Case
2016CV30832. Mr. Rousso confessed all our clients allegations and admitted he had violated
their intellectual property rights under federal and state statutes when he sent Ripoff Report
information he had no legal right to publish and caused Ripoff Report to publish the Webpage.
Id.
On December 26, 2016, the Court entered an Order after hearing from all parties. See
Exhibit 3 Order Entering Injunction, Zarin Medical et al v. Rousso, Mesa County District Court
Case 2016CV30832. The Court ruled that Mr. Rousso violated our clients intellectual property
rights under federal and state laws when he unlawfully sent Ripoff Report information he had no
legal right to publish and caused Ripoff Report to publish the Webpage. Id.
No appeals were filed. The deadline to appeal the Courts December 26, 2016, Order has
passed.
Its our understanding that Ripoff Report will not allow Mr. Rousso to unilaterally delete
the Webpage containing content he unlawfully sent to Ripoff Report.
The Communications Decency Act states nothing in this section shall be construed to
limit or expand any law pertaining to intellectual property. 47 U.S.C. 230(e)(2).
My clients request that Ripoff Report permanently delete the Webpage so they will stop
suffering damages arising from Mr. Roussos unlawful publications to Ripoff Report and his
unlawful uses of Ripoff Reports corporate resources, which caused past and ongoing violations
of their intellectual property rights.
Sincerely,
2 of 2
Exhibit 1
DISTRICT COURT, MESA COUNTY
STATE OF COLORADO
125 North Spruce, Ste 210 DATE FILED: November 22, 2016 2:03 PM
P.O. Box 20000-5030 FILING ID: 6C5C5D65AF60D
CASE NUMBER: 2016CV30832
Grand Junction, Colorado 81502 COURT USE ONLY
Plaintiffs: ZARIN MEDICAL, LLC, a Tennessee Limited
Liability Company, JEFFREY A. KNIGHT, and LEE
PANNELL, Case No:
v.
Division:
Defendant: MATHEW ROUSSO
Edward C. Hopkins Jr., #43298
HopkinsWay PLLC
7900 E. Union Ave., Ste. 1100
Denver, CO 80237
ehopkins@hopkinsway.com
Attorney for Plaintiffs
VERIFIED COMPLAINT
Plaintiffs Zarin Medical, LLC (Zarin), Jeffrey A. Knight (Knight), and Lee Pannell
(Pannell) bring this Complaint against Defendant Matthew Rousso (Rousso). They allege
as follows upon personal knowledge as to themselves and their own acts and experiences, and, as
3. Knight and Pannell co-own Zarin and reside outside the State of Colorado.
4. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this cases causes of action under Sections
5. This Court has personal jurisdiction over this cases parties under C.R.S. 13-1-124.
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6. Venue for this action is proper in this Court under C.R.C.P. 98(c)(1).
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
8. Ripoff Report is an Arizona company that conducts business online throughout the U.S.
9. Ripoff Report publishes via the Internet disparaging statements its users authored about
other individuals or businesses, without first verifying whether those statements are true or false
or unlawful or illegal.
10. Ripoff Report maintains and offers services to its users and readers via the website
www.ripoffreport.com.
11. On or prior to October 28, 2016, Rousso created a user account with Ripoff Report.
12. When Rousso created his user account, he agreed to abide by Ripoff Reports Terms of
13. The Terms of Service by which Rousso agreed to abide was last updated on July 26, 2016.
14. Section 2 of the Terms of Service states: You will NOT post any defamatory or illegal
material or any material that infringes or violates another partys intellectual property rights.
15. Section 2 of the Terms of Service states: You will NOT post, distribute or reproduce in
any way any copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information without
obtaining prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights except as otherwise
permitted by law.
ROR is a permanent record of disputes, including disputes which have been fully
resolved. In order to maintain a complete record, information posted on ROR,
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subject to the Terms outlined herein, will not be removed. By posting information
on ROR, you understand and agree that the material you post will become part of
RORs permanent record and will NOT be removed even at your request.
17. On or about October 28, 2016, while he was in Colorado, Rousso published Ripoff Report
Complaint Review Number 1335542 (Review 1335542) against Zarin Medical, LLC via the
18. Review 1335542 is titled: Zarin Medical, LLC Zarin Medical Piqo4Naturalase QS
2JFocus Medical LaserJeff NightLee Pannell Claiming complete all color tattoo removal +
promised approved deal/financed, deceptive and very misleading, dragged me thru 3+ weeks of
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Zarin-Medical-LLC/Knoxville-Tennessee-37934/Zarin-
Medical-LLC-Zarin-Medical-Piqo4Naturalase-QS-2JFocus-Medical-LaserJeff-NightLee-Pa-
1335542.
20. Rousso also uploaded and added an attachment to Review 1335542 (Attachment).
21. The Attachment contains Zarins copyrighted material, proprietary information or trade
22. The Attachment contains four pages. The first three pages are pages from a three-page
form contract Zarin authored. The fourth page of the Attachment is a copy of an invoice for a
third party. The invoice contains Zarins trade secrets and trademark.
23. Before October 28, 2016, Zarin disclosed the documents in the Attachment to Rousso
only after Rousso had promised he would not show these documents to third parties.
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24. Before Rousso published the documents in the Attachment via the Internet, Rousso had
25. Zarin did not authorize Rousso to disclose the documents in the Attachment to any third
parties.
26. The documents in the Attachment were not made available to the public before Rousso
CAUSES OF ACTION
27. This cause of action incorporates all of this Complaints allegations of fact.
29. The Attachment to Review 1335542 that Rousso published with Attachment to Review
1335542 contains at least one document that Zarin created and to which Zarin has exclusive
ownership rights.
30. That document contains Zarins confidential business or financial information or other
31. By obtaining Roussos advanced assurance that he would not publish the document to
third parties, Zarin took measures to prevent the secret from becoming available to persons other
than those selected by the owner to have access thereto for limited purposes.
32. As a direct result of Roussos publication of Review 1335542 and at least one of the
documents in the Attachment to Review 1335542, Zarin, Knight, and Pannell will suffer special
and actual damages for which injunctive relief is the only permanent remedy.
33. This cause of action incorporates all of this Complaints allegations of fact.
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34. Zarin, Knight, and Pannell bring cause of action.
persuade consumers to buy less of Zarins, Knights, and Pannells goods and services.
36. People who live inside and outside the State of Colorado read or will read Review 1335542
online and their buying decisions were or will be materially affected as a direct result.
37. As a direct result of Roussos publication of Review 1335542 and the documents in the
Attachment to Review 1335542, Zarin, Knight, and Pannell will suffer special and actual damages
38. This cause of action incorporates all of this Complaints allegations of fact.
40. Review 1335542 or the documents in the Attachment to Review 1335542 contain original
literary works Zarin authored for which Zarin owns exclusive rights.
41. As a direct result of Roussos publication of Review 1335542 and the documents in the
Attachment to Review 1335542, Zarin will suffer special and actual damages for which injunctive
IV. Injurious Falsehood (Teilhaber Mfg. Co. v. Unarco Materials Storage, 791 P.2d 1164
(Colo. App. 1989))
43. This cause of action incorporates all of this Complaints allegations of fact.
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45. Under Colorado law, [a] statement is defamatory of a person if it tends to harm the
persons reputation by lowering the person in the estimation of at least a substantial and
46. The false or misleading statements Rousso published in Review 1335542 were defamatory
and injurious of Zarin, Knight, and Pannell because they impugned Zarins, Knights, and
Pannells business practices and caused reasonable people who read the statements to doubt the
47. Reasonable people who read or heard about the statements Rousso published in Review
1335542 interpreted the statements as impugning Zarins, Knights, and Pannells business
practices and calling the quality of their goods and services into doubt.
48. Rousso disregarded the veracity of the statements he published in Review 1335542 when
he published them.
49. Rousso intended for the readers of Review 1335542 to buy less of Zarins, Knights, and
50. As a direct result of Roussos publication of Review 1335542 and the documents in the
Attachment to Review 1335542, Zarin, Knight, and Pannell will suffer special and actual damages
RELIEF REQUESTED
to Review 1335542;
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ii. Statements published via Review 1335542 and the documents in the
Zarin, Knight, and Pannell that impugned their business practices and
caused reasonable people who read the statements to doubt the quality of
Teilhaber Mfg. Co. v. Unarco Materials Storage, 791 P.2d 1164 (Colo. App.
1989); and
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b. an order that will
i. permanently enjoin Rousso from publishing any statements that are the
iii. inform all companies who conduct business in the United States via the
Internet they will not violate or infringe Roussos legal rights under the
from their websites or webpages statements that are the same as or similar
HopkinsWay PLLC
7900 E. Union Ave., Ste. 1100
Denver, CO 80237
Telephone: (720) 262-5545
Email: ehopkins@hopkinsway.com
Attorney for Plaintiffs
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November 21, 2016
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that on November 22, 2016, a true and correct copy of the foregoing document
was electronically filed and served via ICCES or e-mail to the following:
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Exhibit 2
DATE FILED: November 30, 2016 9:29 PM
FILING ID: 4D6509AD8A0E3
CASE NUMBER: 2016CV30832
Exhibit 3
v.
Division: 9
Defendant: MATHEW ROUSSO
Pursuant to Rule 65, Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, and the stipulation of the
DECREED that:
(Attachment);
is: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Zarin-Medical-LLC/Knoxville-Tennessee-
37934/Zarin-Medical-LLC-Zarin-Medical-Piqo4Naturalase-QS-2JFocus-
Medical-LaserJeff-NightLee-Pa-1335542;
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about Plaintiff Zarin Medical, LLC (Zarin), Plaintiff Jeffrey A. Knight
who read the statements to doubt the quality of their goods and services;
Teilhaber Mfg. Co. v. Unarco Materials Storage, 791 P.2d 1164 (Colo.
App. 1989).
2. Unless he has already attempted to do so, Rousso shall take reasonable steps to
permanently remove Review 1335542 and the Attachment from the Internet if he is able
3. In the event Rousso is unable to remove the webpages or the statements without
obtaining approval from Ripoff Report, Zarin or Knight or Pannell or any of them may
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submit this Order to Google, Bing, Metacrawler, Yahoo!, Ask.com, Aol, Dogpile, and any
other Internet Search Engine, so that the applicable webpage can be removed, de-
listed, and de-indexed from all search engine results in accordance with the policies of
4. This Court shall retain jurisdiction to the extent it is necessary to amend this
Order.
5. This Court finds there is no evidence that Rousso will suffer damages due to this
injunction, therefore, the Court does not require Zarin, Knight, or Pannell to pay a
BY THE COURT