Intellectual Property
Apr. 19, 2012
Lisa Greenwald-Swire
See more on Lisa Greenwald-SwireFish & Richardson Redwood City
When it comes to branding, Greenwald-Swire says her clients are "getting smaller" as their reach goes global.
"The real estate of where you're pushing out your product is smartphones, through apps for example," she explained. "So, how does that affect your branding?"
The overlap of technology and branding is her sweet spot, and she counsels clients across several industries. She's been eHarmony's Inc.'s go-to trademark specialist and has also worked with car manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc., clothing company Cashmere House Inc. and startup Square Inc.'s mobile credit card scanner technology.
Greenwald-Swire said she "grew up" as a lawyer in Silicon Valley's intellectual property community, and she saw the rise and fall of the dot-com boom. Since then, she said clients have become more sensitive to cost - so she takes a proactive approach.
"I'll audit my clients to see what's going on so we're really on the pulse of what the company is doing," she said. "If I know the direction we're going to take over the next 12 months, I can help you plot out what might be important to focus on and what we can put on hold to make sure we stay on budget."
In that way, she said, she's approaching the business as though she's a member of the in-house legal team. In the process of building and developing a client's brand, for example, Greenwald-Swire does her research. That means checking whether a brand's potential website name, Twitter handle, or Facebook page is already taken.
"We have to think about all of that right out of the gate," she said, "before you start printing your business cards."
Once her clients have developed their online and mobile presence, Greenwald-Swire helps them protect it. This year, she won a domain name dispute against dating site global-e-harmony.com on behalf of eHarmony.
Disputes like that keep her litigation chops fresh, she said. "Whether it ends in a settlement or a ruling, those are definitely highlights of the year."
- ERICA E. PHILLIPS
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