Susan E. Hollander

Hollander's clients include the trust of film director Francis Ford Coppola, which she is representing in an infringement lawsuit filed earlier this month against a Novato restaurant that is using a nearly identical name as Coppola's A Tavola trademark.

She also is representing Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer HTC Corp. along with several other companies that are challenging Apple Inc.'s attempts to get trademark registrations for some of its iPhone and iPad designs.

But while those ongoing cases grab most of the attention, Hollander's main goal is less glamorous, involving the constant monitoring of companies that are infringing her clients' trademarks and stopping them from doing so.

"We work with foreign counsel all over the world," she said.

This requires a great deal of vigilance, Hollander said, particularly in China where companies that are slow on the draw may find themselves blocked from using their own name.

"When a company starts to get popular, you can count on the fact that someone else will file a trademark registration in China," she said.

But the solutions to some problems often require creativity. Consider one of Hollander's clients, 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. of San Ramon.

Many businesses are open 24 hours, and are eager to advertise that fact. "We try to find ways to protect our mark that allows defendants a creative way to say they are open 24 hours without putting it in their name," she said.

During the past year, Hollander has stopped more than 30 companies from using variations of the 24 Hour Fitness trademark through litigation and settlements.

In one ongoing case, Hollander is fighting a chain of fitness clubs in New York, Synergy Fitness Astoria Inc., that she claims uses the same stylized design and color scheme as 24 Hour Fitness. 24 Hours Fitness USA Inc. v. Synergy Fitness Astoria Inc., 11-5405 (S.D. N.Y., filed Aug. 3, 2011).

In 2011, Hollander also stopped 15 companies from using Automatic Data Processing Inc.'s trademarks and logos in a host of jurisdictions, from the United States to Europe, Chile and China.

- Craig Anderson

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