Sheldon H. Klein

Practice Areas

A partner in the intellectual property group, Sheldon Klein counsels clients and handles trademark, copyright, unfair competition, advertising and Internet law matters, including clearance, registration, litigation, and licensing.

Client Work

In his 30 years of practice, Sheldon has represented numerous corporate clients in a variety of industries, including the Internet, advertising, telecommunications, broadcasting, building, food, pharmaceutical, medical device, insurance, hospitality, mail order and furniture industries.

Professional Activities

Sheldon is an active member, and former officer and board member, of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). He was elected a Fellow of the Association in 2005, and currently serves as the Fellows'  Vice Chair . He is a past chair of AIPLA's Trademark Committee and several other committees. Sheldon is also a past chair of the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Section of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia.  He is an active member of the International Trademark Association, and currently serves on their Internet Issues Committee. Sheldon is also the firm's representative to the Intellectual Property Constituency of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

On behalf of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Sheldon co-authored a brief amicus curiae before the US Supreme Court in Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products, Inc. on the issue of whether color per se should be registrable as a trademark. He also co-authored a brief amicus curiae, on behalf of AIPLA, before the US Supreme Court in Wal-Mart, Inc. v. Samara Bros., Inc. on the issue of the standard to be applied for the protection of product design trade dress.

Publications, Presentations and Recognitions

Sheldon is a well-known expert in intellectual property law, and has been interviewed on significant cases by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Corporate Legal Times and other publications, and on television. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles for intellectual property law publications such as The Trademark Reporter, Trademark World, Managing Intellectual Property and the AIPLA Quarterly Journal, and for general legal publications, such as The National Law Journal , and various online publications. He has served on the editorial boards of Trademark World and The Trademark Reporter.

Sheldon’s published articles have covered topics such as the federal Trademark Dilution Act, protection of designs, and the intersection of trademark law and aggressive Internet marketing. His articles on the sale of trademarks as keywords by Internet search engines were featured in the October 2004 and January 2005 issues of Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, the February 2006 issue of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, the December 2006 issue of Trademark World, the December 2007 issue of Intellectual Property & Technology Law, and the June/July 2010 issue of World Trademark Review.  A chapter co-authored by Sheldon entitled, “The Role of Trade Mark Use in US Infringement, Unfair Competition and Dilution Proceedings” is featured in the book Trade Mark Use, published in March 2005 by Oxford University Press.

A frequent speaker, Sheldon’s engagements include:

• Trademark Boot Camp, AIPLA; 2009, 2010
• Legal Considerations in Selecting, Protecting & Using Brand Names, Live and On Demand Webinar for BrightTALK, www.brighttalk.com; 2010
• Understanding Trademark Law, Practicing Law Institute; 1995-2009
• Advanced Seminar on Trademark Law, Practising Law Institute (Co-Chair); 2007-2010
•  Trademark Declaratory Judgment Actions – Using the Bazooka While Avoiding the Landmines, Practising Law Institute; 2010
• Arguing Advertising Disputes Before the N.A.D., Spring Meeting, AIPLA; 2009
• Hot ICANN/Domain Name/Trademark Topics, Intellectual Property Law Association of Florida; 2008
• Key-word Triggered Advertising/Sponsored Links, Spring Meeting, AIPLA; 2007
• Hot Internet Trademark Topics, Annual Meeting, INTA; 2006
• Potential Trademark Conflicts Arising From Aggressive Internet Marketing, Mid-Winter Institute, AIPLA; 2005
• Trademarks and Keywords, and Other Hot Internet/Trademark Topics, AIPPI Israel Chapter; 2004
• Opposition and Cancellation Actions/TTAB Practice, Trademark Administrator's Conference, INTA; 2003
• Entertainment Without Borders: The Future of Digital and Broadband Distribution of Content, Arent Fox Client Seminar (New York & London); 2003
• US Discovery Tools, Annual Meeting, INTA; 2002
• Trademarks and the Internet: Recent Developments, Annual Meeting, Michigan State Bar IP Law Section; 2001
• Music on the Internet, Practicing Law Institute; 2001
• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Annual Meeting, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada; 2000
• Advanced Practice Before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, INTA; 1995, 1997, 1999
• Trade Dress Protection, AIPLA Spring Meeting; 1995 

Bar and Court Admissions

District of Columbia Bar
Maryland Bar
Supreme Court of the United States
US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Education

George Washington University National Law Center, JD (honors), 1980
University of Michigan, BA in history and near eastern studies (high distinction), 1977