 |
Vanessa A. Ignacio chairs the firm's Trademark Prosecution and Enforcement Practice Group and has a broad range of experience in the areas of intellectual property and technology law. She represents clients in all facets of trademark law, from clearance and availability searches to application prosecution and brand enforcement. Ms. Ignacio advises clients on intellectual property transactional issues in the context of trademark portfolio audits, due diligence matters, as well as drafting and negotiating licensing, assignment, consent arrangements and coexistence agreements. She manages the national and global trademark portfolios of hundreds of clients spanning industries as diverse as life sciences, pharmaceuticals, apparel and footwear, consumer products, financial services and information technology. Ms. Ignacio is also experienced in enforcing and defending intellectual property in oppositions, cancellations and appeals before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as well as litigating and negotiating matters regarding trademark infringement, trade dress and trade secret claims.
Additionally, Ms. Ignacio handles cybersquatting and domain name disputes, copyright counseling and registration, intellectual property and technology licensing, electronic signatures and Internet privacy law issues.
In her copyright practice, Ms. Ignacio has experience handling file sharing disputes initiated by the music industry trade association, The Recording Industry Association of America. Leveraging her past industry experience, she has counseled clients and drafted a variety of entertainment law agreements, including production, distribution and music publishing contracts.
Ms. Ignacio's representative matters and experience include:
- Extensive management of online branding and trademark issues
- Ongoing representation of global pharmaceutical companies relating to domestic and international trademark prosecution and enforcement
- Successful prosecution of dozens of international domain name arbitration disputes, procuring infringing domain names for clients
- Advising on complex security interest issues relating to intellectual property assets held by famous celebrity photographer
- Representing global golf club manufacturer in numerous acquisition and intellectual property licensing issues
- Applying an innovative letter of protest strategy before U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to clear registry and permit a major big-box retailer to adopt and use numerous names in connection with apparel and home goods.
A member of the firm's Tech Group, the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group, and Media and Entertainment Practice, Ms. Ignacio is recognized as a "Rising Star" in the 2009 edition of New Jersey Super Lawyers.
In addition to her practice, Ms. Ignacio is Vice-Chair of Lowenstein Sandler's Women's Initiative, which is an integral component of the firm's Diversity Initiatives Committee. The Women's Initiative focuses strategically on issues related to the development, retention and advancement of female attorneys at the firm. Since joining the firm, Ms. Ignacio has been active in the firm's recruiting and mentoring efforts. Externally, Vanessa is active within the International Trademark Association, currently serving a two-year appointment on INTA's Internet Committee; serves on the Planning Committee for the National Association of Women Lawyers; and is a member of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association.
Prior to joining Lowenstein Sandler, Ms. Ignacio worked in the entertainment industry. Ms. Ignacio's entertainment industry experience included screening artist submissions and managing numerous aspects of the daily operations in the Artist & Repertoire department of Capitol/EMI. She handled licensing and contract issues in the areas of merchandising and pay television programming for PolyGram's Diversified Entertainment Division. Ms. Ignacio also handled a variety of Artist & Repertoire, promotional and publicity matters at Radioactive Records. Additionally, Ms. Ignacio's entertainment experience included legal experience at the Legal Affairs division of ASCAP―The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a major performing rights society, where she handled copyright, webcasting and licensing issues.
Speaking Engagements
- "Some of the Issues to Consider When Helping Your Client Get a Piece of the E-Commerce Pie: Domain Names, Privacy and Website Terms of Use," presented at the Fifth Annual ICLE Business Law Symposium, October 22, 2004
- "Cybertorts," presented at the Third Annual ICLE Business Law Symposium, October 11, 2002
View More...
|
|
 |
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
(J.D., 2000),
cum laude, Notes and Annotations Editor, Cardozo Online Journal of Dispute Resolution
|
|
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
(B.A., 1995),
with highest honors
|
|
New Jersey
|
|
New York
|
|
2000,
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
|
- National Association of Women Lawyers, Planning Committee
- New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
- International Trademark Association
- Internet Committee, Domain Name Subcommittee
- Copyright Society of the U.S.A.
- New Jersey State Bar Association
- Committee on Internet and Computer Law
- New York State Bar Association
- Entertainment, Arts and Sports Section
- American Bar Association
- Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries
| |