EducationDePaul University College of Law (J.D., 1985) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.A., 1982)
Tony develops and implements global strategies for creating, protecting and enforcing the full range of traditional and digital intellectual property assets, including trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, patents, domain names and social media portfolios. He enforces intellectual property rights in federal and state courts throughout the country and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. He coordinates similar enforcement efforts all over the world.
He manages the daily intellectual property demands of a varied client base – Fortune 500 companies, hospitality businesses, sports franchises, social media and tech companies, entrepreneurs and many other growing enterprises. Praised in Chambers for always providing the “right level of detail and analysis,” Tony’s counsel benefits from his dual litigation and counseling acumen that assists him in identifying and developing the intellectual property assets that define a client’s business and build its brand. He skillfully considers how a decision will help a client’s business while assessing the risks of potential disputes.
The founder and former co-chair of the firm's Intellectual Property practice group, Tony has worked to build the firm’s IP group into one of the largest and most diverse practices in the nation. He has also been an editor for the Trademark Reporter, published by the International Trademark Association, and a faculty member of the International Trademark Association’s Trial Advocacy Workshop, which was sponsored by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.
He speaks frequently before industry and legal groups on intellectual property and social media strategies. He regularly conducts client seminars on identifying, developing and protecting intellectual property. He has been an adjunct professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, where he taught a class on Intellectual Property Strategies for Managers of E-Commerce. His talent for teaching helps him assist young business leaders as a trusted strategic legal advisor who speaks their language and understands the contemporary challenges of developing global digital brands.
Dedicated to Pro Bono initiatives, Tony was one of seven NGE attorneys to receive the 2023 Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
- Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. v. Talk of the Town Restaurants, Inc. and Ron Woodsby (M.D. Florida) – won a jury verdict for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises finding that Talk of the Town Restaurants infringed Lettuce’s rights in the trademark WILDFIRE, in violation of Sections 32 and 43(a) of the Lanham Act, when it rebranded its well-known Orlando-area CHARLEY’S STEAKHOUSE to CHARLEY’S WILDFIRE GRILLE.
- Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. v. Leila Sophia AR LLC (N.D. Illinois) – obtained a preliminary injunction preventing defendants from opening a restaurant under the name LETTUCE MIX on the basis that the name infringed upon the family of LETTUCE trademarks.
- The Nielsen Company (U.S.) LLC v. Truck Ads (N.D. Illinois) – established protectable copyrights and licensing revenue in Nielsen’s widely-used DMA maps.
- Nielsen Media Research v. Eagle Creek Broadcasting (Corpus Christi, Texas and S.D. Texas) – defeated preliminary injunction and established the right to de-list TV stations from Nielsen ratings book.
- Michael’s Chicago Style Red Hots, Inc. v. Michael’s Restaurant Group, LLC (N.D. Illinois) – obtained a preliminary injunction preventing defendants from opening a restaurant under the name MICHAEL’S on the basis that the name infringed upon common law rights.
- Republic Technologies v. Shenzhen Jieshibo Technology Co., Ltd. (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board) – won an opposition to the registration of the mark JSB on the grounds that it was likely to cause confusion with the mark JOB.
- ALCAR, Inc. v. Corporate Performance Systems, Inc. (N.D. Ill.) – obtained a judgment reclaiming a domain name on the grounds that a former distributor’s registration of the name constituted cybersquatting.
- National Counseling Compensation Insurance v. Insurance Data Resources, Inc. (S.D. Florida) – defeated a claim of copyright protection for NCCI’s insurance codes, formulas and related manuals used by workers’ compensation rating organizations.
- Adam’s Apple Distributing, L.P. and Philip Morris, Inc., v. Panaria, Inc. (S.D.N.Y.) – seized counterfeit goods that infringed the copyrights in Adam’s Apple’s original artwork and Philip Morris’ trademark rights in its Marlboro cigarette box.
- Adam’s Apple Distributing, L.P. v. People’s Choice (D. Oregon) – won a copyright infringement action involving affirmative defenses of equitable estoppel and implied license, focusing on unauthorized commercialization of copyrighted artwork.
- Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, recommended in “Intellectual Property,” 2011-2020 and in "Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets," 2021-2024
- Named an “IP Star - Trademark,” Managing Intellectual Property, 2022-2023
- World Trademark Review 1000, recommended in “Trademark Enforcement and Litigation” and “Trademark Prosecution and Strategy” since 2014
- The Legal 500 United States, recommended in “Trademark Litigation” since 2020
- The Best Lawyers in America, recommended in “Trademark Law” since 2015
- Illinois Super Lawyers, recommended in “Intellectual Property” since 2006
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the District of Washington
- U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
|
|
|