Intellectual Property

Overview

Intellectual property is the heart of the post-industrial and entertainment-oriented economy centered in Southern California.  Greenberg Glusker operates at the nexus of this dynamic interplay of economics, innovation, culture and technology. Our attorneys provide clients with the depth of skills and experience necessary to meet all their intellectual property protection needs. 

In all areas of our IP counseling, we represent clients in transactional-based IP matters, copyright and trademark litigation, and domain name litigation.  While identifying, prosecuting or defending the rights of our clients, our attorneys focus on the protection, commercialization and enforcement of valuable intellectual property assets.   We protect copyrights, trademarks, and rights of publicity, and safeguard other rights from appropriation, infringement or misuse.

Our Intellectual Property Group provides core practice strengths to several other disciplines in our Firm. Most notable is the cross-collaborative success of our entertainment litigation and IP attorneys. Greenberg Glusker is at the center of many cutting-edge, headline-making cases involving media, Internet, technology, entertainment transactions, video games, trademarks, branding and copyrights.

We are top-of-mind IP legal counselors because of the strength of the results we deliver for our clients.  These include registering and protecting some of the leading Hollywood trademarks, domain names and copyrights, defending the world’s leading toy company against an infringement claim relating to the look of a well-known doll, and prosecute and defend idea submission claims.

On the transactional side, our Intellectual Property Group helps commercialize the creativity of Hollywood and the media and technology industries.  Clients in these industries benefit from our Firm’s sweet spot - our attorneys’ ability to handle both complex technology and distribution issues in the digital age on the one hand, while also maximizing our long leadership in innovative entertainment industry matters.  Many of our practice achievements are located at the dynamic convergence of technology, media, entertainment and branding, as our representative matters illustrate. 

For more information, please contact Aaron J. Moss.

Representative Experience

  • Represented the top-ranked Spanish-language website on various aspects of eCommerce and wireless distribution of content, including advertising and consumer protection, copyrights, rights of publicity and privacy. We also drafted and negotiated agreements on website development, hosting and backbone, content licenses, wireless distribution, co-branding, advertising, telemarketing and fulfillment.
  • Successfully defended Classic Media and Harvey Entertainment against five distinct statutory copyright termination claims by the heirs of authors attempting to recapture copyrights in various fictional characters.
  • Represent APM Music, the world’s largest production music library, similar to “iTunes” for the film, TV and videogames industries and owned by EMI Music Publishing and UMG. We handle many of the license and technology deals for the company, an increasingly eCommerce company with a web interface.
  • Represented Glu Mobile, a leading publisher of games software for download to mobile phones, in the negotiation of download deals with many leading Latin American wireless carriers, including numerous affiliates of América Móvil.
  • Obtained $13.2 million arbitration award for Ubisoft Entertainment, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, in a dispute against licensor of the Bratz girl doll property for wrongful termination of the license.
  • Prepared many of the contracts, and much of the legal backbone, for eCommerce blockbuster, pricegrabber.com.
  • In the lawsuit DIC Entertainment v. Speed Racer Enterprises, successfully represented the children's animation company in an action concerning its intellectual property rights in the "Speed Racer" property.
  • Represent major entertainment, consumer products, financial and other companies in litigating trademark infringement, trade dress and unfair competition, and licensing-related cases, primarily in federal courts, and usually involving immediate injunctive relief.
  • Represented the top-rated Spanish-language television network in connection with the acquisition of foreign film libraries, foreign record labels and music publishing companies.
  • Retained as an expert witness on behalf of a major foreign film distributor in federal litigation on the issue of restored copyrights and reliance party rights in foreign language motion pictures.
  • Represented the world’s third-largest producer of toys before U.S. Customs and Border Protection, resulting in the seizure of various counterfeit and infringing products entering the country.
  • Represented various apparel, cosmetics, consumer products, food and beverage, and toy companies in inter partes proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  • Defended and advised owners of such entertainment properties as "Lassie," "Casper the Friendly Ghost," "Winnie the Pooh" and "Charlotte's Web" in connection with attempts by authors' heirs to recapture copyrights in these properties under the Copyright Act's statutory termination provisions.
  • Represents Toho Co., Ltd., owner of intellectual property rights in "Godzilla," in numerous matters involving copyright and trademark infringement and licensing disputes.
  • Achieved a favorable settlement for Gameloft, S.A., one of the world's largest publishers of mobile phone video games, in a copyright and trademark dispute brought by Activision in connection with the video game "Guitar Hero."
  • Obtained summary judgment for Costco Wholesale Corporation against Omega S.A. in a case involving the Copyright Act's "first sale" doctrine, establishing Costco's right to sell Omega watches in its warehouse stores.
  • Regularly represent Tom Cruise in media-related matters, including defamation, invasion of privacy and the right of publicity.
  • Successfully defended several motion picture studios, including DreamWorks and Universal Pictures, in high-profile copyright infringement actions.
  • Served as lead trial counsel in Dustin Hoffman’s successful right of publicity trial against Los Angeles Magazine concerning the unauthorized digital alteration of his image.
  • Represented the owner of the copyrights and trademarks to the works “Dr. Seuss” in a trademark infringement claim against ABC arising out of its announcement of a television series for its 2007 line-up named “Sam I Am.”
  • Defended the producer of “Late Show With David Letterman” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn” in the music copyright infringement action involving alleged use of the group 2 Live Crew’s song as a play-on for guests.
  • Advised on copyright counseling and copyright clearance for such clients as the sculptors of the Bill of Rights sculpture at the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum in Chicago, which features 1,000 quotations relating to freedom, and the author of a controversial book about charity called “Uncharitable”.