Douglas R. Wolf

Shareholder, Executive Committee Member | Trademark & Copyright, Co-chair

Education

BA, Physics, Columbia University
JD, Cardozo School of Law

Key Industries

Consumer Goods
Life Sciences
Financial Services
Software
Professional Services
Industrial Goods
Healthcare
Sports
Financial Services

Practice Groups

Admitted to Practice

Massachusetts
New York
US Patent and Trademark Office
US District Court, District of Massachusetts
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Location

Boston
New York

Overview

Doug Wolf co-chairs the firm’s New York office and co-chairs the firm’s Trademark & Copyright Practice. He is also on the firm’s Executive Committee. Doug’s focus is primarily in the areas of trademark prosecution and litigation, patent portfolio management, infringement and patentability analysis, licensing, and internet issues. He also regularly provides due diligence and acquisition analysis. Doug splits his time between the firm’s offices in Boston and New York.

There are very few industries that Doug does not touch. Clients in industries ranging from consumer goods and services to high-tech and life sciences rely on Doug for his strategic counseling. Known for his responsiveness, Doug works with large and small trademark clients, including several portfolios comprising thousands of trademark records throughout the world. He has experience managing litigation in foreign jurisdictions including infringement, counterfeiting, and domain name disputes. He also works closely with many lawyers around the world creating strong, professional relationships that enable his clients to have seamless legal service in any jurisdiction.

Doug is actively involved in the trademark community through the International Trademark Association (INTA), where he has served on various committees over the years including Parallel Imports, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademark Reporter, and Famous and Well-Known Trademarks. He has also served on the boards of several trade publications.

Doug chaired the Columbia College Alumni Association for 12 years, having served as President and on the Board of Visitors, and is now on the University's Alumni Trustee Nominating Committee. He also has chaired and served as a board member of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge – Innovation Series Committee.

While in law school, Doug served as Production Editor for the Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal. He is now co-Chair of the Cardozo Law School Alumni IP Group.

Client Testimonials

Doug is as an extremely proactive, thorough, experienced, and personable lawyer with an ultra-sharp trademark mind.

He knows the laws very well and can provide you with spot-on advice very quickly. He is extremely efficient at what he does.

I love how they do the clearance stuff, and things are very business focused with Doug. It’s not black and white stuff. What I am looking for is guidance from outside counsel, which is what I get with the trademark work.

Doug’s really responsive, and I never feel like I am overcharged. For example, if I ask a question I don’t see a two-hour bill for the response.

It goes back to Doug’s level of service and responsiveness. It’s better than a lot of partners I have dealt with at other firms. He is by far the most responsive.

He’s been an incredible partner and I’ve learned so much from him about not only trademark law but about how to advise a global brand in a strategic and practical, results-focused manner.

Doug is an excellent communicator, highly responsive, and an innovative partner, who is up to date and informed on case law and legislative changes and achieves great results for his clients.

Doug brings incredible commercial know-how, enabling him to dish out top-tier strategic advice to clients in every industry.

Experience

Negotiated purchase of blocking portfolio of registrations from pharmaceutical competitor for well-below market value.
Negotiated strategic purchase of blocking trademarks for a sporting industry.
Has managed the intellectual property component of several large-scale due diligences.
Helped a major food company navigate counterfeiting and infringement threats in the US and Mexico. When, without realizing, a third-party shipped potentially infringing goods to our client, we handled the US matter and coordinated with foreign counsel to beat the claim and accusations before the administrative tribunal.
On behalf of a financial services company, we worked with a major law firm to strategize the capture and restart of one of its legacy brands through litigation and negotiations in many different countries.

Activities

International Trademark Association (INTA) – Unfair Competition Committee
International Trademark Association (INTA) – Famous and Well-Known Marks Committee
Cardozo School of Law Alumni Association, IP Practice Group – Co-Chair
Columbia College Alumni Association – Chair Emeritus
Columbia University Alumni Trustee Nominating Committee
Columbia College Alumni Association Diversity & Engagement Committee – Chair

Recognition

Named Lawyer of the Year for Trademark Law in Boston in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®
Repeatedly named to The Best Lawyers in America®
Repeatedly named to Managing IP’s IP Stars list as a New York Trademark Star
Repeatedly named to World Trademark Review 1000 – The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals
Repeatedly named to World Trademark Review Global Leaders
Repeatedly ranked among the top 100 best performing trademark attorneys and among the top 100 most active trademark attorneys by Patexia, Inc.
Named a United States Trademark Leader in World IP Review’s WIPR Leaders 2023
Named as a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer
Repeatedly named to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list
Repeatedly named to Who’s Who Legal list of Trademark Lawyers as one of The World's Leading Practitioners
Named to Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers list
AV Preeminent Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell