Joseph Lawlor

Joseph Lawlor

Joe is a trusted advertising and IP lawyer with a practice that covers all aspects of marketing and branding, including disputes, transactions, and compliance. Joe litigates high-stakes advertising, trademark, and media disputes in federal court, the National Advertising Division (NAD), and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). He also counsels clients on advertising claims and substantiation, marketing and sponsorship agreements, IP licenses, social media, endorsements, and influencers. Clients turn to Joe for guidance on cutting-edge advertising and social media issues because of his deep substantive knowledge and unique skillset that spans from counseling and transactions to trials and appeal. His clients include well-known brands in consumer goods, telecommunications, higher education, media, pharmaceuticals, professional sports, and fintech.

Joe relies on sound judgment and an analytical business-focused approach as he represents clients through all phases of litigation in federal court, the NAD, and the TTAB. Joe has tried and won trials in both federal and New York state court. Joe has also successfully tried appeals to the Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeal. Joe’s recent experience includes the successful representation of a global skin care brand in a federal jury trial and complete victory before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in a trademark dispute to protect one of its most well-known brands.

Joe is an experienced practitioner before the NAD representing both advertisers and challengers. Joe’s NAD experience includes the representation of a national grocery chain against the leading international wholesale club and the representation of a publicly-traded global medical company specializing in eye care against one of its primary competitors. In the TTAB, Joe’s range of experience includes representing one of the largest wireless telecom companies in a dispute relating to a mark for one of its core cellular business lines.

Joe often represents journalists, media outlets, and public figures in federal court. For example, Joe represented a journalist wrongfully detained by the U.S. Government after exercising his First Amendment rights to provide an interview to PBS. In a widely-publicized matter, Joe also successfully secured complete dismissal of charges against an individual indicted on multiple counts of securities fraud in the Southern District of New York after a ruling that his client’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Joe is an active member of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and International Trademark Association (INTA), where he is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and Chair of the Online Dispute Resolution Subcommittee. When not practicing law, Joe can likely be found hiking or fishing in the Catskills with his family and Westie or fervently following college basketball.

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The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is set to release an updated version of its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims this year. These “Green Guides” — which haven't been updated in over a decade — do not have the force of law but provide marketers with guidance on how to make properly substantiated…