Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C.

Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C.

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Amanda Agati

Amanda Agati

Amanda Agati develops worldwide branding strategies to align with clients’ business objectives and provides strategic advice to obtain, protect, and enforce intellectual property assets for clients ranging from fast-growing startups to some of the world’s best-known companies. Her practice focuses on all aspects of trademark law and extends to copyright, design patent, and unfair competition law, IP-related agreements, due diligence, and strategic counseling. Amanda is adept at identifying and managing risks associated with trademark adoption around the world. She develops cost-effective global filing programs and uses creative approaches to clear obstacles and obtain rights. Her extensive experience negotiating and litigating complex multijurisdictional conflicts, coupled with her innovative strategies to increase leverage, enables her to achieve favorable results. During several secondments for premier luxury brands, Amanda counseled senior management directly on matters and best practices relating to commercial contracts, global data privacy, advertising, social media, digital media, and related commercial matters. She draws on this experience to provide actionable advice that considers real-world demands and business implications for clients across diverse industries, including fashion, pharmaceutical, hospitality, consumer products, and luxury. Clients rely on her dynamic and highly responsive approach to provide decisive advice without time-wasting missteps.
David Donahue

David Donahue

David Donahue brings the benefit of his extensive courtroom experience when advising clients on protection and enforcement issues relating to copyright, trademark, unfair competition, right of publicity, design patent, and related commercial matters. His commercial litigation experience also informs his approach to negotiating and drafting commercial agreements involving intellectual property matters. David’s deep litigation experience includes successes in federal and state trial and appellate courts across the country and in matters before the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. He advises and represents clients that reflect diverse sectors, including new technologies, professional sports leagues, hotels and resorts, food and beverage, fashion, music, entertainment and celebrities, authors and literary works, fine art, and film.
Lydia Gobena

Lydia Gobena

Lydia Gobena’s passion for creativity permeates her broad global practice with innovative strategies for acquiring, enforcing, and assigning international intellectual property rights. From counseling clients on international trademark, industrial design, copyright, and unfair competition issues to litigating international and multi-country conflicts, Lydia gets results for her clients, including protection of nontraditional trademarks such as single colors and sound. Lydia has championed countless court and trademark office decisions for major brand owners acknowledging the fame of their trademarks in jurisdictions around the world, thereby preventing the registration and – in certain instances – use of infringing third-party trademarks. She also secured one of the first criminal convictions for trademark infringement in Chile. Recently described as a “key partner” in Chambers USA, Lydia has deep experience in obscure international jurisdictions, including conducting global trademark clearance projects with analysis and evaluation of search data and related risks. She investigates and negotiates issues relating to third-party rights, implements global filing strategies, and advises on domain name protection for ccTLDs (country code top level domains) and gTLDs. Her transactional work includes IP portfolio audits and due diligence for acquisitions and divestitures as well as drafting and negotiating agreements. Lydia’s diverse international clientele has included leading pharmaceutical and hotel companies, luxury goods companies, fashion brands, personal care companies, entertainment properties, beverage and sports brands, and a leading provider of engineering and architectural software.
Nadine Jacobson

Nadine Jacobson

Few U.S.-based lawyers know more about global trademark strategies and managing global trademark conflicts than Nadine Jacobson, who has searched, cleared for use, and prosecuted for registration thousands of trademarks of all types globally. Nadine has also litigated and defended hundreds of international Opposition and Cancellation proceedings as well as infringement actions around the world. She registers and defends design patents and industrial designs in various countries, including those protected by the Hague Treaty, as well as those filed nationally. Nadine has also advised on dozens of acquisitions and divestitures in which the trademark and copyright assets were either the primary or crucial aspect of the overall transaction. When the U.S. joined the Madrid Protocol in 2003, Nadine not only chaired the PLI seminar on this important development, but also spoke at numerous seminars arranged by legal trade associations such as the AIPLA and INTA, explaining to U.S. practitioners how the Madrid Protocol works. She chaired the INTA Subcommittee on the Madrid Protocol and continues to work closely with both practitioners and WIPO personnel to enhance the Madrid Protocol and encourage its wider use. Nadine’s knowledge of the Paris Convention, the TRIPS Agreement, and the Berne Convention is equally comprehensive, and she is frequently asked to speak and advise on various aspects of these IP treaties. Indeed, early in her career, WIPO invited Nadine to speak at its 1997 Asian regional conference to advise government officials in developing countries as to how they must amend their national laws to comply with the TRIPS Agreement, including enhanced protection for Well-Known Marks and for Geographic Indications. More recently, Nadine was hired by a U.S. multinational law firm to serve as an expert witness on various aspects of trademark law in an international arbitration. Nadine’s in-depth understanding of IP treaties, national trademark laws, and the related enforcement procedures of dozens of foreign jurisdictions informs her strategic advice to trademark owners from both the U.S. and other countries, including the EU, Japan, China, and many others. In addition to her clearance, prosecution, and enforcement work, Nadine conducts IP portfolio audits, investigations, and due diligence. She also provides additional transactional support by negotiating and drafting IP-related agreements, including licenses, assignments, and global consent and coexistence agreements, as well as the IP-related provisions of Asset and Stock Purchase agreements. Nadine represents both startups and established companies across a broad range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, apparel, jewelry, cosmetics, watches, consumer health products, medical devices, food and beverage, industrial systems, and home security products, as well as restaurant, hotel, retail, entertainment, and financial services.
Jason Jones

Jason Jones

Jason Jones counsels clients and litigates matters relating to copyright, trademark, unfair competition, false advertising, design patent, and related commercial matters. He also negotiates trademark and copyright licenses, as well as coexistence and settlement agreements. Jason’s litigation experience includes federal trial and appellate courts, as well as state courts and the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. He represents clients across diverse industries, including publishing, fashion, cosmetics, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, automotive, and insurance. He also is an adjunct professor at New York Law School, where he teaches a seminar on litigating intellectual property cases. Prior to joining Fross Zelnick, Jason was an associate in the litigation department of a large international law firm.
Leo Kittay

Leo Kittay

Leo Kittay litigates and counsels clients on trademark, copyright, unfair competition, false advertising, right of publicity, and related commercial matters. He has deep experience advising young and emerging growth companies — from promising early-stage ventures to some of the most celebrated startups in the world — on the full range of issues relating to brands and content. Leo coaches companies on how to invest efficiently and strategically to protect their intellectual property and manage enforcement. Leo advises multinational companies across diverse industries on launching new brands, logos and marketing programs, formulates protection and enforcement strategies for trademark and copyright portfolios of all sizes, negotiates IP transactions, performs pre-publication reviews, and litigates disputes through trial and appeal before U.S. federal and state courts, as well as administrative tribunals. Warner Bros., Sol de Janeiro, Peloton, Etsy, WeWork, Overtime, Away Travel, Spindrift, Bonobos, PlayStation, and Betches are some of the clients Leo has advised. He also represents clients across industries including luxury goods, AI, consumer products, financial services, apparel, and not-for-profit charities. Prior to joining Fross Zelnick, Leo worked as a litigation associate at Covington & Burling LLP. Leo was a theater and television actor in New York City for ten years before he began practicing law.
Todd Martin

Todd Martin

Todd Martin focuses his practice on protecting clients against all kinds of online counterfeiting, phishing, and fraud. Though strategies vary depending on the type of infringement and where in the world it occurs, often the result is to take down websites, social media, and other online activities that infringe clients’ intellectual property assets. Todd’s successful record includes decisions in favor of his clients in more than 500 Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and URS (Uniform Rapid Suspension Procedure) matters. Guided by his sophisticated knowledge of trademark and copyright enforcement strategies, Todd advises clients on how to address existing infringement and help prevent infringement from adversely impacting clients’ rights in the future. He also works with brand owners to develop strategies relating to domain acquisitions and registration portfolios, as well as social media issues and online advertising.
Craig Mende

Craig Mende

Craig Mende’s unique, broad practice spans trial and appellate litigation, complex transactional work, and client counseling – all relating to different aspects of intellectual property, including copyrights, trademarks, right of publicity, and diverse new media issues. Perhaps most importantly, Craig provides sought-after counsel to clients seeking answers to new kinds of questions, frequently involving rebranding and innovative uses of social media, including issues with celebrities. He has developed guidelines on proper use of third-party materials on social media, developed a protocol for determining when material needs to be licensed, and advised on innovative TV programming concepts. Craig has won trial verdicts and summary judgments in federal court that have been affirmed on appeal and handled complex transactions for clients including the owners of a beloved children’s entertainment property. He drafts, negotiates, and advises on trademark and copyright licenses, as well as purchase, distribution, coexistence, music, and website agreements. Craig’s clients represent diverse industries ranging from film, television, and music to hospitality, financial services, apparel, and consumer goods. Craig is a former member of the firm executive committee. Prior to joining Fross Zelnick, Craig was a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and he was also an in-house lawyer at a major record label.
Tamar Niv Bessinger

Tamar Niv Bessinger

Tamar Niv Bessinger offers clients proactive and practical IP counsel with creative strategies to achieve their goals while preserving their bottom line. Tamar’s practice focuses on U.S. trademark searching, filing, and enforcement, as well as portfolio management. She is adept at obtaining trademark registrations under challenging circumstances. A frequent speaker at trademark industry events and writer on issues including search strategies and ethics in trademark law, Tamar advises clients on trademark clearance, licensing, and acquisitions. She also negotiates and drafts coexistence, settlement, and manufacturing agreements. Tamar works with clients across diverse industries, including personal care products, beauty and fashion, luxury brands, restaurants, and entertainment and communications.
Allison Strickland Ricketts

Allison Strickland Ricketts

Allison Strickland Ricketts helps clients build and protect their trademark, so that they can use it as a sword and a shield as they go forth in the world. She is a prosecution specialist, of course. In her nearly three decades of practice, she’s reviewed and evaluated thousands of trademark clearance searches, and has filed and prosecuted more than 2,500 U.S. trademark applications, including critical work on emerging technologies for WeWork and integrating a new league into Major League Soccer’s existing IP structure. There are few practitioners in the country who have managed the same quantity and quality of work with similar skill and success. But for all its veracity, the “prosecution specialist” tag doesn’t do her practice justice.  Her expertise is a crucial component in high-stakes trademark disputes. The strength of her prosecution work protects clients from litigation, both in disputes and negotiations—and her work has turned disputes decisively in her client’s favor. Litigators rely on her intuitive understanding of the weakness of an adversary’s claims to gain courtroom advantage.  She uses her accumulated prosecution experience to help clients explore uncharted applications of trademark law. Most recently, she helped clients from a variety of sectors, including a casual clothing giant, explore the possibilities—and limitations—of non-fungible tokens and other digital rights vehicles. Her influence and reputation in the marketplace is unsurpassed. She’s a trusted resource for officials in the Patent and Trademark Office, sharing advice and insight that make her discipline straightforward and efficacious—for instance, spearheading a petition program at the USPTO that made refiling trademarks tied to obsolete technology simpler and conflict-resistant. 
Maritza Schaeffer

Maritza Schaeffer

Maritza Schaeffer helps brands with multinational trademark portfolios expand their product offerings and geographic reach by counseling clients on international trademark strategy. She is involved in the international clearance, filing, prosecution, and maintenance of trademarks. Maritza handles global enforcement issues, trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings, and works with clients on copyright matters. In addition to registering conventional trademarks, Maritza has garnered nontraditional trademarks for clients, including three-dimensional marks and color marks. She also handles policing and anti-counterfeiting matters, and has worked on numerous IP-related agreements. Prior to joining Fross Zelnick, Maritza was an associate in the intellectual property litigation group at a large firm in New York City.
Charles Weigell

Charles Weigell

Charles Weigell’s deep experience in protecting product designs at the intersection of trademarks, copyrights, and design patents is invaluable — both for fashion, watches, jewelry, and fragrance clients, and for clients with technical products like audio devices, digital icons, tools, and medical and dental devices, for which it is especially important to secure the proper IP protection. Charles has extensive experience advising clients on issues involving three-dimensional marks, functionality, design searching, demonstrating secondary meaning, and the interface between design and utility patent protections. He also has deep knowledge of the new standards for prior art, prior disclosures, anticipation, and obviousness under the America Invents Act. In addition to handling searching, clearance, filing, and prosecution of trademarks, Charles provides advice and counseling on trade dress and manages large trademark portfolios. He writes design patent validity and infringement opinions, and advises on oppositions, cancellations, and concurrent use matters before the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, as well as appeals before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
James Weinberger

James Weinberger

James Weinberger is an accomplished litigator and strategic advisor who helps his clients protect, enforce, and manage their intellectual property rights. His clients include global entertainment brands, professional sports leagues, multinational personal care products companies, and pioneering cosmetics. For these clients and others, James advises on a range of IP and commercial issues, including copyright, trademark, and trade dress infringement; unfair competition and false advertising; right of publicity disputes; internet-related matters; and First Amendment rights. As a litigator, James successfully argued an appeal before the Ninth Circuit on behalf of client DC Comics that resulted in the Batmobile being accorded full copyright protection as a character, and in which the Court set forth a new, three-part test for determining protection of a character appearing in comic books, television programs, or films under the 1976 Copyright Act, independent of any specific work in which it has appeared and irrespective of whether, like the Batmobile, it “lacks sentient attributes and does not speak.” James regularly represents clients through federal and state court litigation, mediation, arbitration, administrative litigation in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceedings in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He counsels clients on copyright and trademark enforcement strategy, execution, portfolio management, and clearance, and negotiates and drafts trademark and copyright licenses, co-existence and settlement agreements. James has been recognized by Chambers & Partners as a leading copyright and trademark lawyer for the past 16 years. He is a sought-after speaker and an active committee member on intellectual property for the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the New York Bar Association.