About

‘Geri Mankoff-Elias is a true leader and role model in both the in-house counsel and intellectual property arenas,’ says David Bernstein at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. As vice president and intellectual property counsel for US fashion design house Kate Spade & Company, Geri Mankoff-Elias is responsible for managing the intellectual property portfolio for three separate brands present across 20 countries and distributed online. As well as handling the full spectrum of legal work, Mankoff closely monitors the company’s highly successful digital marketing expansion. ‘It’s been a rollercoaster over the past three years,’ Elias says on the company’s dramatic growth. On the contentious side, Elias led Kate Spade’s 2013 victory over Saturday Surf. ‘Her performance has earned the respect of the senior business leaders, outside counsel and other members of the legal community as a whole,’ Bernstein says. Elias is on the board of directors for the International Trademark Association (INTA), which represents 30,000 trademark professions worldwide through its member organizations. She also founded and chaired INTA’s Fashion Industry Group, which brings together intellectual property counsel from some of the biggest fashion brands in the world. Elias is a frequent speaker on a variety of industry topics and has taught a fashion law seminar class at Cardozo School of Law.