Bobby A. Ghajar

Cooley LLP

Los Angeles

Trademark, copyright litigation

Tech-heavy California has lots of patent specialists, but Ghajar isn't one of them. The Santa Monica-based Cooley LLP partner has instead made his name in the trademark and copyright arena.

"When you think about IP litigators, the vast majority of them are patent-related," Ghajar said. "Given that there's a relatively small bar of trademark and copyright litigators, we see each other quite a bit."

He added that some patent attorneys "dabble" in his specialty, "there are very few people who have dedicated their careers to this part of IP."

Ghajar has "worked for a number of tech companies over the years," including Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. in recent cases. But even then, his services tend to come in the copyright and trademark arena. He's also scored recent wins in cases ranging from children's books to commercial real estate to beer to scented candles.

This work is often time-sensitive.

For instance, Bath & Body Works LLC believed the German grocery chain Aldi was selling a line of scented holiday candles that was overly similar to its own products. Ghajar and his team were able to obtain a settlement in September, keeping the offending candles off holiday shelves. Bath & Body Works Brand Management v. Aldi Inc., 18-CV09738 (C.D. Cal., filed Nov. 19, 2018).

He's also done multiple cases for a company well-known to parents of small children. Spin Master is a Canadian toy and entertainment company known for the PAW Patrol animated television show and many other properties. The arena is quite lucrative and competitive, partially due to the huge profits that can be made from merchandise, as well as the cost of making the shows.

The company was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit from the owners of a comic book series with a similar name. These cases often turn on a "theory of access" to the previously copyrighted work, Ghajar said: "I know someone who knows someone who knows someone who works with your animation studio." Knowles v. Spin Master Inc., 18-CV05827 (C.D. Cal., filed July 3, 2018).

Spin Master had plenty of money to settle the case, but chose to fight it. Ghajar and his team were able to determine one of the comic books in question had never been copyrighted and convinced the plaintiffs to drop the case.

"There are so many of these lawsuits filed every year, if you settle just for the sake of settling them, you could get a reputation as an easy mark," Ghajar said.

-- Malcolm Maclachlan