| Education | J.D., The George Washington University Law School, 1982 | B.A., Cornell University, 1979 |
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| Admitted to Practice | - California
- District of Columbia
- Illinois
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| Susan L. Heller is the Co-Chair of the Trademarks/Brand Management Group. She specializes in working with companies to protect and enhance their key brands and corporate images through strategic management of their worldwide trademark and copyright portfolios. She has also worked with numerous entertainment personalities to help increase the visibility and value of their names and images, through trademark, copyright, and domain name registration and extensive collateral product licensing.
Ms. Heller's practice focuses on counseling clients in all aspects of trademark policy, procedure and portfolio management both domestically and overseas. Ms. Heller advises clients in the business and legal aspects of the naming and branding process. She provides strategic guidance to her entertainment clients in connection with product integration opportunities and programs. Ms. Heller conducts trademark due diligence in M&A transactions and works with corporate and tax attorneys on asset-based financing, restructuring IP assets for tax planning and similar transactions.
Ms. Heller oversees the clearance, procurement and enforcement of intellectual property rights throughout the world, including prosecution of all types of claims of trademark, copyright, trade dress and domain name infringement. Her practice includes drafting, negotiating, implementing and enforcing global licensing agreements, assignments, consent agreements and other documents affecting and transferring intellectual property rights. She provides strategic analysis regarding the development and management of worldwide IP portfolios, including the protection and use of marks on and off the Internet. She regularly represents clients in connection with ICANN domain name arbitration proceedings.
Ms. Heller counsels clients with respect to advertising, entertainment content and dispute avoidance issues by helping them review materials for copyright, trademark and publicity rights issues. In the entertainment industry, she has worked with various studios, advertising agencies, and media companies, advising them in the clearance of materials for use in film, television, advertising and on the Internet. She also has worked with numerous entertainment personalities in the protection of their personal identities and the enhancement of their names and images.
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| Areas of Concentration |
- Trademark Litigation and TTAB Practice
- Trademark and Copyright Procurement and Portfolio Management
- Intellectual Property Transactions
- Intellectual Property Strategy
- UDRP Proceedings
Key Clients
- Starbucks Corporation
- Barclays Global Investors
- Cedars-Sinai
- CMP Media, Inc.
- DIRECTV
- Electronics for Imaging
- Exodus Entertainment
- Signatures Network, Inc.
- FremantleMedia, North America (American Idol)
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| Significant Representations | - Represented Saul Zaentz Film Company (and New Line Cinema) in the worldwide protection and enforcement of the Lord of the Rings (trilogy) trademark portfolio. Filed over 2000 trademark applications and negotiated and drafted numerous license agreements to cover the use of those marks throughout the world.
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| Professional & Community Involvement |
- Member, American Bar Association (past chair, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Subcommittee on Rules)
- Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association (Intellectual Property Section)
- Member, International Trademark Association (Patent and Trademark Office Committees)
- Steering Committee of the first San Francisco Mayor's Summit for Women
- Steering Committee of the San Francisco Symphony 1999 Black and White Ball
- Past Pro Bono Legal Advisor for the Breast Cancer Fund
- Past Pro Bono Legal Advisor for the American Sports Institute
- Member, President's Council of Cornell Women
- Planning Committee, USC Law School Intellectual Property Institute, 2004 - 2006
- Executive Committee, USC Law School Intellectual Property Institute, 2007 and 2008
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| Awards & Recognition |
- Recognized by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals as one of the "Top 25 Intellectual Property Lawyers in California" in 2003 and 2005
- Recognized by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of "California's Leading Intellectual Property Lawyers in 2008"
- Selected by Super Lawyers magazine, every year since from 2004 - 2008
- Named a "Leading Intellectual Property Lawyer for 2005" by Global Counsel 3000
- Named onf of the "Top 50 Trademark Attorneys" in the United States by CSC Trademark Insider, Annual Report 2005 and 2007
- Selected by Managing Intellectual Property Magazine in its Guide to the World's Leading Trademark Practitioners for 2005
- Named one of six Intellectual Property Attorneys ranked "Highly Recommended" as an IP Specialist in Los Angeles by the Practical Law Company
- Elected to the Who's Who of Trademark Lawyers for 2005
- Elected to Who's Who among Executives and Professionals, "Honors Edition" 2008
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| Other Experience | - Board of Directors and Corporate Secretary, Starbucks U.S. Brands
- Board of Directors, Gap (Apparel) Inc.
- Board of Directors, Banana Republic (Apparel) Inc.
- Board of Directors, Old Navy (Apparel) Inc.
- Board of Directors, Sunny Hills Children's Garden
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| Articles, Publications, & Lectures | | | |
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