Susan E. Hollander

At Venable, Hollander’s focus is on helping “big brand” companies prevent genericism and dilution. She has been responsible for several precedent-setting trademark decisions and jury verdicts. She manages the international trademark portfolios for a diverse range of clients in various industries and develops comprehensive enforcement programs in protecting and policing their intellectual property rights.

Her high-power clients include Chicken of the Sea International and Francis Ford Coppola Industries. “There’s a lot of enforcement work we do with these brands,” she said.

Hollander is lead counsel for Coppola Industries in its case against Copa di Vino, an Oregon-based winery. The suit alleges trademark and trade dress infringement in connection with wine bearing the name Copa and a “netting” trade dress that allegedly infringes on Francis Coppola’s distinctive wire netting over its Diamond Collection Clarets.

“Coppola is the only one that does that in the U.S.,” Hollander said. GMYLP LP v. James Martin, 2:16-cv-6518 (D. Ore., filed Aug. 30, 2016). The case settled on confidential terms last year. “No more netting on Oregon wine,” she said.

Last year, she filed suit in federal court for Chicken of the Sea’s parent, Tri Union Seafoods Inc., in another in a series of enforcement cases to protect the brand’s iconic mermaid image on its canned tuna product. Hollander is quick to call to mind her client’s familiar jingle. “Ask any mermaid you happen to see… What’s the Best Tuna? Chicken of the Sea!” The mermaid, inspired by actress and singer Grace Lee Whitney, is a spirited blonde with a golden scepter, introduced by the company in 1952. “They take that jingle very literally,” Hollander said. Her client authorized the new litigation after La Sirena canned tuna products produced labels with a topless mermaid. La Sirena is Spanish for “the mermaid.” “As one of only three major canned tuna brands in the United States, Chicken of the Sea’s distinctive mermaid logo shares the tuna market with StarKist’s Charlie the Tuna and Bumble Bee’s bee mascot,” Hollander’s complaint notes. Tri Union Seafoods Inc. dba Chicken of the Sea Int’l v. Otis McAlister Inc., 4:17-cv-06646 (N.D. Cal., filed Nov. 17, 2017). The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White of Oakland.

“I make Chicken of the Sea tuna sandwiches at home, and they are always a hit,” Hollander said. “It’s the best.”

— John Roemer