Intellectual property
With an expert practice in domestic and international copyright litigation, Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, PC leverages the team’s bench strength to advise its impressive multinational client base on copyright counseling, clearance, prosecution, enforcement and litigation. The firm’s high-profile client roster is far-reaching and includes clients from music, sports, publishing, video games and retail industries, such as Universal Music Group, Barclays, and Capitol Records. Jonathan King oversees the department in New York, drawing on deep experience handling copyright and infringement cases in the federal courts nationwide. Seasoned litigator, Richard Mandel, is lauded for serving as first chair in a variety of complex and protracted US IP cases. Thomas Kjellberg, specialist in copyright licensing and enforcement, handles cases involving photographers, artists and composers. Joelle Milov is lauded for securing and defending IP rights, particularly for clients in the music, food, financial, and sports industries. Joel Karni Schmidt boasts expertise in copyright clearance, prosecution and enforcement for clients cross media, entertainment, video game and retail sectors. All named lawyers are based in New York.
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Profile
Work Department
Intellectual Property-Litigation
Position
Jonathan King is a Partner and former long-time Chair and Executive Committee Member of the Firm. He has handled intellectual property litigations in a wide range of industries, including music, fashion, sports, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, software, advertising, licensing, publishing and various consumer products. His practice encompasses the full gamut of intellectual property subjects, including trademarks, copyright, trade secrets and the licensing of intellectual property. He regularly tries copyright and trademark infringement cases in the federal courts and handles opposition and cancellation actions before the Trademark Trial Appeal Board. Mr. King’s engagements have included a number of landmark intellectual property matters, including some of the first cases involving the use of trademarks as internet keywords, online liability for linking to pirated materials, and the application of copyright law to the “resale” of digital files. He also has extensive experience in the use of consumer surveys in Lanham Act litigation. Among others, he has represented The Donna Karan Company, the Recording Industry Association of America, Capitol Records, Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Major League Baseball Properties, and the National Audubon Society.
Career
Goodwin Procter & Hoar, Associate (1991- 93) U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock, Law Clerk (1992)
Memberships
New York Massachusetts United States District Courts - Southern, Eastern, Northern Districts of New York, Massachusetts
Education
Harvard University Law School (JD 1991, cum laude) Princeton University (BA 1987, summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa)
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Offering bespoke, detailed and pragmatic advice. Extensive knowledge of intellectual property law, which doesn't get in the way of the commercial considerations.' 'Extremely knowledgeable experts in the field of IP. Very impressive client list for a boutique-sized firm.' 'I always enjoy working with the trademark team – they are expert, enthusiastic and efficient, providing practical and client-friendly advice. The team gets excellent results.' 'They work seamlessly as a team, manage projects with efficiency, and cultivate enduring relationships with their clients, who recognize and value their responsiveness, commitment, expertise, and professionalism.' 'We work closely with this team. They are very professional, responsive, knowledgeable, and nice to work with. They are very experienced, and it shows in their advice, and really bring to the table the highest degree of sophistication and professionalism. ''The team at Cowan is wonderful. Extremely efficient, detail-oriented, and careful with deadlines. The other great aspect is that they firmly stand by the adage that no two clients are the same—so their advice is tailored towards meeting the needs and requirements of individual clients.' 'Very good diligent and experienced team.' 'Highly experienced prosecution team – focused on obtaining rights cautiously while clearly presenting what is obtainable and what is not.' 'Joel Schmidt is our go-to person – a top practitioner with huge experience and judgment.' 'This is a great firm with a true dedication of taking care of their clients and knowing their clients and also very much rooted in the community.'
Key clients
- Arista Music, Arista Records LLC, Atlantic Recording Corporation Capitol Records, LLC Dover Publications Inc. Eli Lilly Epic Games FULLBEAUTY Brands Operations, LLC Hanky Panky Ltd. HarperColllins Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company House of Skye LLC (formerly Sexy Back Bra) Magic School Bus authors McGraw Hill Education Norman Rockwell Family Agency Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. Penguin Random House Practising Law Institute PRO TV SRL Rhino Entertainment Company Rick Riordan Rosen Publishing Group Inc. Sony Music Entertainment Sotheby’s Star of Hope (Robert Indiana copyrights) Teachers College Press, Columbia University The First Church of Christ, Scientist The Forward media organization The Forward Fund, Inc. The Promotion in Motion Companies, Inc. (d.b.a. PIM Brands) Think It’s A Game Records Trebco Specialty Products (WUBBANUB) Universal Music Group Warner Chappell Music, Inc Warner Music Group Writers House
Work highlights
Representing all the major record labels in a major copyright lawsuit against UNCHARTED LABS, INC., d/b/a Udio.com. This case represents the music industry’s first lawsuit against a music generative AI service, which produces music files in response to user prompts.
Representing Warner Chappell Music, Inc. in a case which established that a copyright plaintiff who brings a timely cause of action under the discovery rule may seek monetary relief for infringements more than three years prior to suit.
Representing some of the largest music publishers in the world, such as Universal Music Publishing, in a copyright infringement action against AI company Anthropic, based on Anthropic’s training its AI chatbot Claude on Publishers’ copyrighted lyrics and distribution of output on Claude that infringe Publishers’ copyrighted lyrics.