Howard J. Shire
With more than 30 years’ experience, Howard is a skillful litigator who protects and defends his clients’ products and IP rights against infringement. Examples include his successful representation of Toyota as defendant in a well known trademark dilution and infringement case involving the LEXUS mark; his spearheading a trademark and copyright counterfeiting case for MuscleTech, a leading nutritional supplement company, which resulted in a multi-million dollar judgment and criminal indictments and convictions brought by the US Attorney; his successful representation of BASF Corporation in a trade dress litigation, which at the time established the Ninth Circuit’s rule that a single color is not generally protectable under the US Trademark Act; his role on behalf of Heidelberg Harris in a case that resulted in a jury verdict of infringement of two printing press patents and a multi-million dollar damages award for Harris; and his representing Ozzy Osbourne in a litigation concerning ownership of the well known Black Sabbath trademark. The 2015 edition of World Trademark Review 1000, which ranks trademark attorneys worldwide, says that he is an “enforcement master who has ‘operated at the top level for years.’” He has extensive experience in litigating actions to obtain domain names under ICANN’s dispute resolution procedure.
He is also an experienced mediator and member of the International Trademark Association’s Trademark Mediators Network, and has served as an arbitrator under the auspices of the American Arbitration Association.
Howard also has an active counseling and prosecution practice. For example, he has developed and implemented worldwide trademark registration programs. Howard also coordinates major corporate acquisitions involving the worldwide transfer of patents, trademarks and copyrights and negotiates a wide variety of intellectual property agreements, such as licenses, trademark coexistence agreements and joint ventures. In addition, Howard counsels clients on intellectual property matters relating, for example, to Internet issues and the selection of new trademarks and domain names. He represents clients from a wide range of industries, including computer hardware and software, consumer electronics, solar energy, financial services, apparel, nutritional supplements, publishing, personal care products, alcoholic beverages and pharmaceuticals.
Howard’s sophisticated ability to help clients achieve their objectives with respect to their intellectual property opportunities and disputes is consistently recognized by legal referral guides that rank attorneys according to recommendations received from others in the legal community. He is ranked as a leading intellectual property lawyer by legal referral guides, such as U.S. News and World Report – Best Lawyers (2015), New York Super Lawyers – Metro Edition (2013) and The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers (2013).
Howard is frequently invited to lecture at programs organized by professional and bar organizations, including the International Trademark Association, the American Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the New York City Bar Association, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA), the Practising Law Institute and the International Bar Association. In addition, he is the former Chairman of the Trademark Committee of the NYIPLA.
Also a prolific author, Howard has written articles pertaining to a range of topics, including unfair competition claims, personal jurisdiction, liability for false patent marking, fraud on the Trademark Office, the tacking standard, trademark dilution, fair use, inducement of infringement, keyword advertising and the Anticybersquatting Protection Act. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the monthly publication, Intellectual Property Strategist. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of The Trademark Reporter, which is the leading scholarly journal devoted to trademark law.
- Recognized in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers (2013)
- Recognized as a leader in Trademark matters (2015, 2016), World Trademark Review 1000 New York Super Lawyer in Intellectual Property Litigation (2006-2016), Metro Magazine
- Recognized as a Top Attorney in Metro New York, New York Times Magazine (2016)
New York, New York 10022
