Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

I am a commercial litigator specializing in federal litigation, including trials. I work extensively with online businesses, specifically in connection with the use of intellectual property on the Internet in both litigation and non-litigation roles. My firm is also recognized for its strength in construction litigation.

I have successfully represented clients of every size in state and federal courts, arbitrations and mediations in a variety of litigation matters, including contract disputes, distributorship litigation, trademark and unfair competition cases, business tort claims, toxic tort and insurance coverage litigation, discrimination and wrongful discharge cases, copyright infringement claims, and cases involving trade secrets, restrictive covenants and real estate. My litigation experience runs from pretrial investigation and early dispute resolution through every aspect of bench and jury trials as well as appeals.

My blog about copyright, trademark and related issues, LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®, was recognized by the ABA Journal as one of the top 100 law-related blogs in the country in its first-ever listing in 2007.

Title	Publisher	Published
Massive Attack: Analyzing Mass Copyright Infringement Campaigns	Copyright Society of the USA	June, 2011
Massive Attack: Analyzing Mass Copyright Infringement Campaigns Moderator: Stacey L. Dogan, Boston University School of Law Panelists: Ronald D. Coleman, Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP Steven A. Gibson, Righthaven LLC Scott Bain, Software & Information Industry Association
A Focus on Initial Interest Confusion, Post-Sale Confusion and Related Strategies	Minnesota CLE	March, 2010
Trademark infringement can result from conduct that doesn’t necessarily create a likelihood of confusion at the point of sale. What about confusion that likely occurs only before or after a sale? Learn from a likelihood of confusion guru, and author of the awardwinning Likelihood of Confusion® blog, about the current state of the law on initial interest confusion, post-sale confusion, and related legal theories and strategies.
Keying Up Keywords	American Intellectual Property Law Association	May, 2010
My presentation materials for a panel entitled “G(I)PS: Global IP-Positioning Strategies” moderated by Barbara Fiacco of Foley Hoag, LLP in Boston
Policing Trademarks on the Internet and the Web 2.0	International Trademark Association	January, 2010
Ronald Coleman led one of two New York "roundtables" for the International Trademark Association ("INTA") on the subject of "Policing Trademarks on the Internet and the Web 2.0." The INTA Roundtables are a series of popular two-hour discussions on current trademark topics held in numerous cities around the United States, considered by trademark practitioners as an ideal way for members to meet colleagues and stay current on trademark issues. Issues covered included: Social Media Marketing; Lanham Act Considerations in the Web 2.0 World; Secondary Trademark Liability; Communications Decency Act - 47 U.S.C. § 230 (“CDA”); and Blogging
Social Media and the Law: What Attorneys Should Know	Lawline.com	January, 2010
Attorneys need to know how to use social media to promote themselves while also maintaining their professionalism and adhering to the ethics rules pertaining to confidentiality, privacy and advertising. Attorney Ronald Coleman and the founder of uMCLE, Tim Baran, discuss social media and the specific ways in which it relates to, and poses risks, to attorneys. Coleman and Baran explain not just how to use social media, but how to use them effectively and in a way that does not endanger attorneys. In addition, a number of useful tips for both new and experienced users are also included. Agenda: I. Choosing a Platform II. Professional and Personal Profiles III. Liabilities of Social Networking IV. Who Should Use Social Media V. Blogging and Credibility VI. Legal Research
Trademark, Copyright, and the Internet: Time to Return Balance to Civil Litigation	Engage Magazine (Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies)	August, 2010
The law and business of intellectual property are in upheaval today. Essentially, the concepts that underlay the conceptual, statutory, and judicial schemas that govern each of patent, trademark and copyright are rapidly being overwhelmed by technologies that could not have been foreseen even half a generation ago, much less when the roots of the legal doctrines surrounding each of these types of IP protection and the economic models on which they are premised took hold. The purpose of this essay is to consider one of these areas in particular, namely trademark, and to focus in particular on how developments in copyright arising from the new digital media have affected this area of law. I argue that a series of legal developments has turned an area of law historically meant to shield consumers from non-authentic merchandise and preserve entrepreneurial investments in “brands” into a weapon to stifle competition and protect entrenched, inefficient business models. These developments have taken trademark law far beyond the language of the Lanham Act, the modern trademark statute, into a world where judges have not feared to tread and “make policy” affecting broad areas of economic activity to Congress’s silent assent…
Hands off Blogs: Mandatory disclosure of payment to bloggers runs counter to free expression	New Jersey Law Journal	2008
"Ron Coleman called this over two years ago." -- Popehat.com blog
Legal Aspects of Blogging	Lawline.com	September 26, 2008
In this unique course, Ron Coleman discuss the legal issues associated with blogging. In a 2006 survey, the Pew Internet & American Life Project estimated that the US 'blog population has grown to about 12 million American adults.' As blogs become more prevalent in society, lawyers must know about the different legal issues that arise. Mr. Coleman discusses some of the main legal problems that may arise with the blog. I. What is a blog? II. Defamation III. Copyright IV. Trademark V. Invasion of Privacy
De Minimis Confusion on the Internet: Compounding the Error of Initial Interest	Journal of Internet Law	2007
Jewish law issues in legal practice	Halacha Conference of Agudath Israel of America	2007
Legal Research on the Internet for Non-Lawyers	National Business Institute	2006
Legal research on the Internet for non-lawyers	National Business Institute	2006
Seminar on Advanced Trademark Law	Association of the Bar of the City of New York	2005
Issues in Trademark Dilution	International Trademark Association	May, 2004
Table Talk Facilitator)
Electronic discovery; Electronic Data Management and Discovery Issues: Where is the Tipping Point?	Delaware Bar Association Computer Law Section	December, 2003
Legislating Morality in the 21st Century	Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies	October, 2003
[T]he Court … says: “[W]e think that our laws and traditions in the past half century are of most relevance here. These references show an emerging awareness that liberty gives substantial protection to adult persons in deciding how to conduct their private lives in matters pertaining to sex.” Apart from the fact that such an “emerging awareness” does not establish a “fundamental right,” the statement is factually false. States continue to prosecute all sorts of crimes by adults “in matters pertaining to sex”: prostitution, adult incest, adultery, obscenity, and child pornography. Sodomy laws, too, have been enforced “in the past half century,” in which there have been 134 reported cases involving prosecutions for consensual, adult, homosexual sodomy. In relying, for evidence of an “emerging recognition,” upon the American Law Institute’s 1955 recommendation not to criminalize “‘consensual sexual relations conducted in private,’ ” ante, at 11, the Court ignores the fact that this recommendation was “a point of resistance in most of the states that considered adopting the Model Penal Code.”
Managing Risk: Litigation Prophylaxis in High-Tech Agreements	NJSBA Business Law Symposium (ICLE)	2003
Online Auction Sites and Trademark Infringement Liability	Record of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York	2003
Attacking Counterfeiting in the 21st Century	New York Intellectual Property Association	2002
Depositions and Wrongful Profits in Infringement Cases: Cornering Your Prey with Rule 30(b)(6)	Mondaq.com	2002
Hacker with a White Hat	Mealey's Cyber Tech Litigation	2001
New York's Declaratory Judgment Insurance Trap	CorporateIntelligence.com	2001
Protecting Intellectual Property Rights Where Wireless is Ubiquitous"	The Conference Board	October, 2001
Participated in panel at Conference Board's 2001 Wireless Conference
The ABA Legal Guide for Small Business	American Bar Association	2000
Trademark rights vs. free speech	International Trademark Association	2000
"Responses to Complaints," Business and Commercial Litigation in the Federal Courts	West Group / American Bar Association	1998
"Chapter 6, inclusive of sample forms, offers seventy-three pages which painstakingly examines and discusses Motions to Dismiss, other Rule 12 alternative responses to a Complaint as well as strategic considerations in the form and substance of the factual averment responses and affirmative defenses. My recommendation of the text arises from its thoroughness and comprehensiveness. Civil Procedure class in law school lacked the precision and clarity which this Chapter presents in defining and explaining the multiplicity of issues associated with Motions to Dismiss, Answer strategies, affirmative defenses, Cross-claims and Counterclaims in a practice pointer format." http://www.wvbar.org/barinfo/lawyer/1999/oct99/bonanza.htm
Prudential Standing: Who is "any person" under the Lanham Act?	Mondaq.com	1998
The ABA Guide to Consumer Law	American Bar Association	1998
Court Nixes Fees for Fact Witnesses	National Law Journal	September 22, 1997
New York's Choice of Law Doctrine in Coverage Cases	Mealey's Litigation Report	1997