Areas of Concentration

Trademarks & Copyrights, Licensing and Distribution Agreements

Mr. Begler and his team actively manage a portfolio of over a thousand trademarks around the world. His services cover every aspect of trademark practice, including counseling on domestic and international trademark issues, trademark clearance and acquisition, licensing, and protecting trademark rights through litigation or proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. He has led trademark due diligence teams in mergers and acquisitions worth more than $1 billion. He focuses on domestic and international trademarks, and has been responsible for the filing and prosecution of 7000 applications in a single filing program for a Fortune 100 company. Mr. Begler has drafted and negotiated hundreds of trademark, copyright and character licenses covering a wide variety of goods and services.

Mr. Begler also has extensive litigation experience, having represented clients in a wide variety of intellectual property cases running the gamut from trademark and copyright infringement to violation of rights of publicity to false advertising. He has represented Fortune 500 companies as well as many smaller companies and individuals, both in litigation and Trademark Office proceedings. He has participated in over three hundred Trademark Oppositions or Cancellation Proceedings before the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board.

Mr. Begler serves as outside trademark counsel for a broad range of diverse clients involved in many fields including:  fashion and cosmetics, software and internet development and exploitation, food, soft drinks, beer and wine, restaurants, sports equipment and motion picture production. Mr. Begler also renders trademark services to domestic and foreign law firms. He works extensively with start-up companies and has represented many clients in domain name disputes. In 2002, he coauthored the article “Handling Cybergriper Phenomenon,” published in the New York Law Journal. Earlier in his career, he was director of trademarks at Revlon, where he and his staff managed more than 20,000 trademarks worldwide.

Mr. Begler has lectured in the United States, Canada, and Europe on a variety of trademark matters. He has taught trademark law at Baruch College in New York City and has also given a televised presentation on domain names through the Cognistar Continuing Legal Education System.

 

Bar Association & Memberships

• New York State Bar
• Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

Professional Activities

• Editor, The Trademark Reporter
• Former Director, United States Trademark Association, now known as the International Trademark Association

Education

• Columbia Law School, LLB
• Brooklyn College, B.A.

Publications

• “The Most Important Law of Trademarks is Murphy’s Law”
• “Trademark Protection: For Fashion Designers, It Doesn’t Have to Cost a Fortune,” Apparel Magazine, January 5, 2005

Contact Information

415-882-5300, ext. 238
jbegler@nvlawllp.com