Ron Coleman
Partner
Ron Coleman is a Partner at the Dhillon Law Group and resident in its New York Metro 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.
Besides his trademark work Ron is also known for his Internet-related and 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.
Having recently semi-retired his popular “Likelihood of Confusion” blog on trademark law, Ron is a popular influencer on Twitter with over 200,000 followers (@roncoleman) and hosts the ColemanNation video podcast which focuses on free expression, cancel culture and law. He attended Princeton University and Northwestern University School of Law.
Contact Information
- 347-996-4840
- RColeman@dhillonlaw.com
- 646-358-8082
- 256 5th Ave., 4th Floor New York, NY 10001
- Avvo
- Download vCard
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
- United States Court of Appeal
- 2nd Circuit
- 3rd Circuit
- 4th Circuit
- 5th Circuit
- 6th Circuit
- 9th Circuit
- 11th Circuit
- United States District Court
- Southern District of New York
- Eastern District of New York
- Northern District of New York
- Western District of New York
- District of New Jersey
- Eastern District of Wisconsin
- District of Columbia
Publications
Speaking Engagements
| Freedom Fest | When the Government Assaults the First Amendment | 2022 |
| New Jersey State Bar Association | Prior Restraint/Content Moderation: Where are we Today? | 2022 |
| New York Young Republican Club | July Speaker Series | 2021 |
| Asociacion Ecuatoriana de Propiedad Intelectual | Derecho Constitutucional y Propiedad Intelectual: Complementos y Conflictos | 2021 |
| Contra Costa GOP | Annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner | 2020 |
| 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 |
| GIBSON DUNN | Federal Registration of Disparaging, Immoral and Scandalous Trademarks | 2019 |
| Trademark Talk: Hot Topics and Recent Developments in Trademark Law | Trademark Year in Review: Notable Decisions | 2014 |
| Green Paper Roundtable | Statutory Damages in Copyright | 2016 |
| 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
- Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council – Independent Activism Award 2021
- Tomech Torah Award – Novominsk Yeshiva 2021
- John Marshall Harlan II Award – New York Young Republican Club 2020
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 2020
- WTR 1000, “World’s Leading Trademark Professionals” World Trademark Review 2019
- Super Lawyer – Intellectual Property Litigation, New York City Super Lawyers 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 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 Super Lawyers 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
Reviews
★★★★★
Wonderful to work with
I’ve been working with Ron for a well-known case for many years now and found him to be exceptionally perceptive, intuitive, and sharp in helping determine the legal course to take. He knows what he’s talking about, and he has a sense of humor as well. My case has been ongoing for over six years – but it was Ron’s ingenuity to tackle things from a different slant that allowed us to move forward and overcome many traditional barriers in place. He has worked tirelessly, been extremely responsive to my many questions, and has presented a case that has been scrutinized (though oft-misunderstood) by millions now. Throughout this process, he’s helped protect me from myself – from acting too rash, and helping preserve and protect my brand.
– Simon
★★★★★
Ron Sets The Bar For IP Attorneys
If you want your opponent’s heart to hit their stomach when they research your counsel, hire Ron. This is exactly what I was told by a team member of the “other side” after she came to work for us following our Ron-at-the-helm victory. When Ron took our case, I felt confident after doing my own research that we had the best. But this statement by my now sales manager cemented that sentiment; we had the best, and the other side knew it. Ron is a plethora of knowledge when it comes to intellectual property. Combine that with his powerful persona, his calm-in-the-storm approach, and his articulate legal writing skills, and you’ve got a brilliant attorney that you will be proud to have in your corner. Throw in his uncompromising honesty and his canny sense of humor, and you’ve got someone you’ll be proud to have as your friend. If you’re looking for the best ip attorney, your search is over. You’ve found your man.
– Sandy
★★★★★
Ron succeeded in attaining a difficult trademark.
Ron advised me to pursue a trademark that would provide broader protection if approved. This would alleviate me from filing additional trademarks for variations of my service. He did a great job and my trademark is now registered.
– Avraham