Melanie J. Howard

Toyota, Gap Inc. and Dole Packaged Foods are among the many companies who seek Howard’s counsel on intellectual property issues. Her skills are even being used in connection with developing a global theme park.

Chinese state-owned enterprise Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co. Ltd. relied on Howard as the lead intellectual property counsel in a deal with Universal Studios. Beijing Shouhuan is developing a multibillion-dollar theme park in Beijing, scheduled to open in 2020.

The project brought many different intellectual property issues, including content, brand protection and licensing matters.

“We had to negotiate the use of licensed content on everything in the resort: from every piece of merchandise sold in the shops, to the theming of the rides, the branding of the resort hotels, parking structures, and even the theming of transportation within the resort,” she said.

The theme park will be accompanied by a Universal CityWalk entertainment complex featuring space for shopping, dining and entertainment and a first-ever Universal-themed resort hotel. The resort is expected to encompass close to 1,000 acres.

“I think the scope of the project could have been perceived as daunting at the outset but the opportunity for me was really amazing,” Howard said. “There are very limited number of these types of deals globally, and it was a privilege to work on this one.”

Howard worked collaboratively with other attorneys and was able to tackle each issue, one by one.

“When I’m faced with a project that looks complex, I tend to break it down into bite-sized pieces so it doesn’t seem insurmountable,” she said.

The theme park will be collectively owned by Beijing Shouhuan, a consortium of four state-owned companies, and Universal Parks & Resorts, a business unit of Comcast NBCUniversal.

“We focused on how to get the best result for our client while also maintaining a positive relationship between our client and Universal,” Howard said. “The agreement had to be a living document, to guide the parties as they work together to build and design the park because the park isn’t scheduled to open until 2020.”

Another component of her practice involves technology transactions. Toyota relies on her counsel for these types of matters, along with data privacy issues.

Preferred Hotel Group Inc. is one of many companies that rely on her guidance with managing their global intellectual property portfolios. Dole Packaged Foods and Gap Inc., including its retail subsidiaries Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, seek Howard’s strategic counsel for brand protection and other marketing matters.

“The best part of my job is that, because I work with dynamic clients in cutting edge industries, I don’t do the same thing day to day,” she said. “I also have an amazing team that I get to work with every day.”

— Melanie Brisbon