Ron Coleman
Ron Coleman is a Partner at the Dhillon Law Group and resident in its New York office. Ron is a commercial litigator with extensive first-seat trial and appellate experience who focuses on torts of competition such as trademark infringement, unfair competition and consumer law. He is known for his First Amendment advocacy, regarding both religious and free speech rights, including his representation of Simon Tam and “The Slants” in the watershed free speech case, Matal v. Tam, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition against registration of “disparaging” trademarks was unconstitutional.
History
An alumnus of a number of major commercial firms in New York and New Jersey, the states in which he is admitted, Ron maintains a leading-edge media practice representing political and new media figures in defamation and intellectual property claims, challenges to social media “cancel culture” or “deplatforming” cases as well as traditional intellectual property litigation on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts throughout the country.
Ron has been perennially listed in the World Trademark Review’s “WTR 1000 Top Practitioners” guide for his trademark litigation work in New York and the World Intellectual Property’s Review’s “WIPR Leaders” directory, as well as Super Lawyers; he is AV rated in Martindale Hubbell. He received the American Bar Association IP Section’s 2018 Mark T. Banner Award for Impact on IP Law for his work on Matal v. Tam, and his blog, Likelihood of Confusion, is one of the longest-running and most widely read intellectual property blogs on the Internet. Ron is very active on social media, notably Twitter, and has published, written and presented extensively on IP, social media and free speech issues around the country. He is a member of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association, the Federalist Society and the state bar associations of New York and New Jersey.
Ron has successfully represented clients of every size in state and federal courts, arbitrations and mediations in a variety of litigation matters, including contract disputes, distributorship litigation, trademark and unfair competition cases, business tort claims, toxic tort and insurance coverage litigation, discrimination and wrongful discharge cases, copyright infringement claims, and cases involving trade secrets, restrictive covenants and real estate. His litigation experience runs from pretrial investigation and early dispute resolution through every aspect of bench and jury trials as well as appeals.
Ron received his AB from Princeton University and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law.
Experience:
- Partner Dhillon Law Group 2020 – Present
- Partner Mandelbaum Salsburg PC 2017 – 2020
- Partner Archer Law 2015 – 2017
- Partner Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP 2008 – 2015
- Partner Hoffman Polland & Furman, PLLC 2007 – 2008
- Partner Bragar Wexler & Eagel, PC 2006 – 2007
- Partner Coleman Law Firm, a Professional Corporation 2003 – 2006
- Partner Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP 2000 – 2003
- Associate Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch, LLP 1996 – 2000
- Associate Lowenstein, Sandler, Kohl, Fisher & Boylan, a Professional Corporation 1992 – 1994
- Associate Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler 1990 – 1992
Education:
- Northwestern University School of Law JD – Juris Doctor 1988
- Princeton University AB 1985
Practice Areas:
- Business Law
- Trademarks
- Intellectual Property
- Communications & Internet Law
- Appeals & Appellate
- Arbitration & Mediation
- Antitrust Law
- Commercial Litigation
Court Admissions:
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Federal Circuit
- 9th Circuit
- 4th Circuit
- 3rd Circuit
- 2nd Circuit
- New York since 1989
- New Jersey since 1989
Publications:
| Likelihood of Confusion blog | Weblog | 2020 |
| The Trademark Reporter | Fashion Dos: Acknowledging Social Media Evidence as Relevant to Proving Secondary Meaning | 2016 |
| Media Law Resource Center – Media Law Letter | Slants, Redskins and other “Disparaging” Trademarks | 2015 |
| Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation | The Policy and Constitutional Challenges to Contemporary Application of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act | 2015 |
| New York State Bar Association Journal | Bloggers, Journalists, Reporting and Privilege | 2013 |
| In the Arena: A Sports Law Handbook | How Trademark Protection Intersects with the Athlete’s Right of Publicity | 2013 |
| American Intellectual Property Law Association | (A Short History of) The Misuse of Trademarks to Control Free Expression | 2013 |
Speaking Engagements:
| Practical legal ethics in the modern media environment | Ethics in the Media | 2019 |
| One-Day Patent CLE Seminar | New York’s New Social Media Guidelines | 2019 |
| NYIPLA President’s Forum | Online Platform Liability | 2019 |
| Hot Topics in Intellectual Property | Genericness Ab Initio and Trademark Registration | 2019 |
| CIPLA Meeting | Disparaging, Immoral and Scandalous Trademarks and the First Amendment | 2019 |
| NYIPLA Annual Meeting | Predictability and the Standard of Review in IP Cases | 2018 |
| PBI’s 11th Annual Intellectual Property Institute | Keynote Speech – Trademark law developments | 2017 |
| Panel Discussion about Trademarks as Speech and Property | Trademarks as Speech and Property in a World of Brands | 2017 |
| McCarthy Symposium on Trademark Law and Its Challenges 2017 | Trademark Disparagement and the First Amendment | 2017 |
| Internet Law Symposium: Controversies & Issues in Internet Law | Free Speech and the Internet: Balancing Protections | 2017 |
| INTA Annual Meeting – Barcelona, Spain | What’s the Use? Exploring Recent Challenges and Changes to Common Law Unfair Competition and Trademark Use Requirements in the U.S. and Canada | 2017 |
| Fashion Law Seminar – FBA, New York City | Litigating a Brand: The Dual Perspective of In-House and Outside Counsel | 2017 |
| Los Angeles Copyright Society | Registering Offense: Disparaging Trademarks, The First Amendment, and In Re Simon Shiao Tam | 2016 |
| Intellectual Property Law Section Annual Meeting | On the (Un)Constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act | 2016 |
| All-Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property | Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act: Trademark’s Law of Unintended Consequences | 2016 |
| Advanced Trademark Law Seminar | Mastering Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act: Strategies for Overcoming Deceptiveness, False Suggestion, Scandalous, and Disparaging Refusals | 2016 |
| Webinar | Deposing Rule 30(b)(6) Corporate Witnesses | 2015 |
| MLRC Forum | “Hate Speech, Threats, and Terror: In the News and On Your Site” | 2015 |
| 25th Annual USPTO Day Conference | Federal Registration of Disparaging, Immoral and Scandalous Trademarks | 2015 |
| Trademark Talk: Hot Topics and Recent Developments in Trademark Law | Trademark Year in Review: Notable Decisions | 2014 |
| Green Paper Roundtable | Statutory Damages in Copyright | 2014 |
| CIPLA March Meeting | The SLANTS Appeal and Examining Attorney Independent Research | 2014 |
| Annual Federal Circuit Symposium | Addressing the Efficacy of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act | 2014 |
| AIPLA Annual Meeting | Trademarks, Goodwill and Free Speech | 2013 |
| Annual Meeting | Righthaven and Mass Copyright Infringement Campaigns | 2011 |
| Table Talk (Facilitator) | Policing Trademarks on the Internet and the Web 2.0 | 2010 |
| Annual Spring Meeting | Keying Up Keywords: The Role of IP in Keyword Searching | 2010 |
| Advanced Trademark Law | A Focus on Initial Interest Confusion, Post-Sale Confusion and Related Strategies | 2010 |
| Legal Aspects of Blogging | Legal Aspects of Blogging | 2008 |
| Halacha Conference of Agudath Israel | Jewish law issues in legal practice | 2007 |
| Advanced Internet Strategies for the New Jersey Legal Professional | Legal research on the Internet for non-lawyers | 2006 |
| Seminar on Advanced Trademark Law (ABCNY) | Advanced trademark law | 2005 |
| Table Talk (Facilitator) | Issues in Trademark Dilution | 2004 |
| Electronic Data Management and Discovery I ssues: Where is the Tipping Point? (Del. Bar Assoc.) | Electronic discovery | 2003 |
| Annual Business Law Institute (NJSBA) | Managing Risks and Costs of Acquiring IT Solutions | 2003 |
| Faith Under Democracy (Fed. Soc.) | Constitutional law – First Amendment | 2002 |
| Branding Strategies and Issues | IP issues in branding | 2002 |
| Attacking Counterfeiting in the 21st Century (NYIPA) | Trademark counterfeiting | 2002 |
| Annual Meeting (IACC) | Legislation / lobbying report to members | 2002 |
| 2001 Wireless Conference (Conf. Bd.) | Protecting Intellectual Property Rights Where Wireless is Ubiquitous | 2001 |
| Trademarks in Cyberspace (INTA) | Trademark rights vs. free speech | 2000 |
Awards:
- WTR 1000, “World’s Leading Trademark Professionals” World Trademark Review 2019
- Top Attorney – Internet Law SJ Magazine 2018
- Global Intellectual Property Leader World IP Review 2018
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2020
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2019
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2018
- WTR 1000, “World’s Leading Trademark Professionals” World Trademark Review 2018
- Mark T. Banner Award for Impact on IP Law American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section 2018
- Global Intellectual Property Leader World IP Review 2017
- WTR 1000, “World’s Leading Trademark Professionals” World Trademark Review 2017
- Top Attorney – Internet Law South Jersey Magazine 2017
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2017
- Distinguished Leaders Award New Jersey Law Journal 2017
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2016
- Top Attorney – Internet Law South Jersey Magazine 2016
- The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals (WTR 1000) World Trademark Review 2016
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2015
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2014
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2013
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City SuperLawyers 2012
- Who’s Who in America Marquis Who’s Who 2006
- Rated “AV’ Martindale-Hubbell 1999
- Who’s Who in American Law Marquis Who’s Who 1998