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Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu

United States (National)

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Key contacts
Director of Marketing & Business Development: Irma Prishker
Quick facts
Firm - Year of Establishment

1969

Number of Partners

22

Total Number of IP Practitioners

48

Key practice areas
Copyright & related rights
Intellectual property
Trade mark
Patent
Firm overview

At Fross Zelnick, we secure and defend our clients’ most valuable assets—their brands, designs, and content. 

  • Our trademark practice is unmatched. After five decades, we’ve developed a singular trademark practice serving clients in the United States and around the world. We’ve handled every type of trademark issue and dispute, multiple times for multiple companies in multiple jurisdictions, from the simplest registration to the thorniest cross-jurisdictional enforcement action. 
  • We boast top-tier copyright experience, with a special emphasis on defending creative works, including character rights, branding assets, and product design. For decades we’ve assisted clients as they navigate the consequences of new technological frontiers – most recently, digital, and virtual performance rights and blockchain-based technologies. 
  • Our patent practice focuses exclusively on design patents, with particular expertise in developing multi-pronged strategies combining patent, trademark, and copyright law to protect our clients’ prized works. 

The breadth and depth of our practice has attracted a wide range of clients, from celebrated brands, industry leaders, and renowned content providers to disruptive startups and regional companies, all of whom rely on us to protect their unique properties at home and around the world. Many of the largest corporate law firms rely on our advice for unique or hard-to-handle U.S. and international issues. 

Our capabilities include: 

Top-Tier IP Litigation

We are a renowned trademark and copyright litigation firm, with a reputation for both aggressive advocacy in court and quick, favorable settlements out of court. We know how to fight and win—whether in our backyard or in the most intractable foreign jurisdictions.

Strategic and Nuanced Registration Strategies

We register trademarks, copyrights, and design patents with our clients’ business goals in mind. Our cross-discipline expertise means we leverage multiple legal strategies to shore up strong protections for the most hard-to-defend assets. We obtain rights that ward off newcomers and stand up in court. We are one of the most prolific filers of U.S. trademark applications, and our expertise in the finer points of U.S. trademark prosecution is second to none.

Global Portfolio Management

With our unparalleled in-house knowledge of international IP law, we provide unrivaled advice for global portfolio management, litigations, and transactions around the globe. Our dynamic, carefully selected network of foreign counsel helps us guide U.S. and foreign clients alike as they identify, protect, and defend their rights under copyright, trademark, trade dress, design patent, domain name, and related laws worldwide. Our international capabilities are just as robust as our local prowess.

Deal Expertise

Whether a client is buying or selling an entire business or a portion of an intellectual property portfolio, we’ve seen it before - and can advise on how to structure the deal to fit the client’s goals. We conduct due diligence reviews for mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate ventures, and formulate efficient worldwide strategies to record the corporate changes against their clients’ IP registrations. Many of the country’s premier M&A attorneys partner with us on the IP components of larger transactions.

Services on the Cutting Edge

Thanks to our more than 50-year legacy, we’ve been witness to the birth and evolution of nearly every technology that’s central to the modern economy. From in-the-trenches Uniform Dispute Resolution Proceeding litigations against cybersquatters, to the rapidly changing intersection of IP rights and blockchain innovations like NFTs, to educating trademark offices around the world on new technological intersections, we’re helping clients successfully steer through uncharted waters and prepare for what’s to come.

Protection of Celebrities and Cherished Characters

From Batman to Harry Potter, we protect famous characters through sophisticated copyright and trademark protection strategies and enforcement against infringers. We’ve also retrieved numerous infringing trademarks and domain names for celebrities and litigate high-profile, right-of-publicity cases involving the unauthorized use of well-known names and likenesses, all within a quickly evolving legal landscape.

Combating Counterfeiting

We’ve developed sophisticated and cost-effective enforcement programs for preventing the importation, sale, and distribution of infringing or counterfeit products. Our experience is capacious, including apparel, footwear, cosmetics, jewelry, and luxury goods products. Included in these programs is the recordal of relevant intellectual property rights with Customs in the United States and abroad.

Practice Areas & Sector Specialisations

Key IP Areas

Copyright & related rights, Designs, Intellectual property (contentious), Intellectual property (prosecution), IP transactions, PTAB litigation, Trade mark, Trade mark contentious, Trade mark prosecution

Key Sector Expertise

Sports, Retail, Publishing, Professional services, Pharmaceutical, Music, Media, Hospitality & leisure, Gaming, Furniture, Food & beverage, Financial services, Fashion & luxury goods, Electronics, Biotechnology, Arts, Automotive, Aerospace, Advertising, Manufacturing

Address:
151 West 42nd St., 17th Floor
New York 10036
Tel:+12128135900 Email:Contact Us Web Address:https://www.frosszelnick.com
2026 Edition
Copyright & related rights
Tier 1
43 firms ranked
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Overview

Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu is a top US-based IP boutique focused on trademark and copyright law, boasting over 50 years of experience handling complex domestic and international matters. The notable practice is primarily located in New York. In addition to the firm's noteworthy practice handling clients domestic needs. the firm is also well known for its ex-US practice, showcasingthe group's deep knowledge of IP law inother jurisdictions.

Notable IP practitioners: Carlos Cucurella, David Donahue, Lydia Gobena, Nadine Jacobson, Leo Kittay, John Margiotta, Craig Medne, Laura Popp-Rosenberg, Barbara Solomon, Allison Strickland Ricketts, James Weinberger

Testimonials

2026

"Professional team that gives practical advice."

"Experienced team that can get things done at the trademark office."

 

2025

"Responsive, practical, creative"

James Weinberger

"Practical advice, speedy, accurate."

 

2024

"One of the very top firms in the US for the enforcement and protection of trademarks with some great individual lawyers who are smart, commercial and provide a superb service. One of the very top firms in the US for the enforcement and protection of trademarks with some great individual lawyers who are smart, commercial and provide a superb service."

"David Donahue is one of, if not the best, trademark lawyer(s) in the United States. Unparalleled expertise and client service."

Nadine Jacobson

"We like everything. She is one of the world's foremost trademark practitioners with incredible knowledge of both US and foreign law. She is responsive and creative and a lovely person to deal with."

"He excels at all aspects of trademark advisory and litigation work. His knowledge and expertise is second to none. His writing is excellent, succinct, and persuasive. His clients' service skills are superb and his rates exceedingly reasonable."

 

2023

"Each attorney/paralegal/administrator provides impeccable and timely service. They are incredibly knowledgeable and thorough, strategic and, overall, lovely and personable."

"I primarily work with Ashford Tucker, who has a great depth of experience and practical insight on both US and non-US trademark matters. He is incredibly responsive, offers excellent and practical, actionable advice, and is sensitive to our budget constraints when formulating his guidance. His support, and the support of his colleagues and team, has been invaluable to the client. They have professionally and timely worked with me to meet the demands of my internal client and its risk tolerance."

"We appreciate their efficiency and business-oriented advice."

Linked Reviews
Trade mark

Fross Zelnick successfully defended against a trademark infringement suit in the Northern District of California. The firm won for Peloton on summary judgment, dispatching the lawsuit altogether. This outcome highlights Fross Zelnick's strength in resolving high-stakes trademark disputes.

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