Overview
Norman (Norm) J. Rich is a partner and intellectual property attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP. Mr. Rich dedicates his practice to helping clients – large and small – capitalize on intellectual property opportunities and minimize intellectual property risks. He assists clients in establishing legal protection for new brands, obtaining trademark and copyright portfolios worldwide that have value, building alliances through trademark and copyright licensing and other strategic business arrangements, and enforcing intellectual property rights against infringers and defending those rights against allegations of infringement. He strives to develop strategies to avoid counterproductive trademark and copyright disputes, and to help clients develop sound strategies for trademark selection, procurement, maintenance, enforcement and portfolio management. Mr. Rich’s practice also encompasses intellectual property due diligence in commercial transactions, domain name disputes and product labeling and product packaging issues. His counseling philosophy is based on the practice of avoiding problems rather than awaiting them. But he also enjoys producing positive results for clients embroiled in trademark, copyright and domain name disputes. Mr. Rich is a member of the firm's Trademark, Copyright & Advertising Practice and its Sports; Nutraceuticals; Hospitality & Leisure; and Medical Devices Industry Teams.
His client work includes a wide variety of intellectual property matters, including licensing, strategic management of trademark, copyright and domain name assets and related client counseling; negotiating trademark and copyright agreements; prosecution of domestic and international trademark applications; evaluating trademark clearance searches and preparing legal opinions on availability and related risks; implementing brand management intellectual property protection programs; conducting trademark and copyright due diligence for corporate transactions, and handling trademark enforcement and litigation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. His client work also includes Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution (UDRP) proceedings, as well as advertising and promotions counseling.
Mr. Rich is a former trademark examining attorney at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has served as an adjunct professor at George Mason University and as a guest lecturer for various professional seminar programs. He has also authored a number of articles on intellectual property subjects.
Recognition
Mr. Rich has been named in the World Trademark Review "WTR 1000" directory (2012-2023), where he is described as someone who “puts himself in his clients’ shoes and operates more like a businessperson than a lawyer, often working with company presidents and CEOs. He is excellent at breaking down complex legal issues and framing his advice in a way that allows for easy commercial decision making.” Mr. Rich was also recognized as a 2023 Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer after being nominated as an outstanding lawyer by his clients as part of Thomson Reuters' global research with in-house counsel.
Education
Mr. Rich is a graduate of American University (B.A., 1988) and Temple University School of Law (J.D., 1992) where he was associate editor of the Temple International & Comparative Law Journal.
Admissions and Professional Memberships
Mr. Rich is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the state of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), the American Bar Association (ABA) and its Intellectual Property Section, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).
Publications
- Due Diligence for Intellectual Property: Valuing Assets in a Transaction
- Legal Protection for the Design of Products and Their Packaging
- What if the Most Famous Apple in the World Were a Fruit?
- Managing and Protecting Your Branded Ingredient in a Crowded Marketplace
- Strength and Value of US Trademarks and Service Marks
- U.S. Trademarks: Selection, Clearance & Registration
- United States Participation in the Madrid Protocol: What is the Price of Admission? (related to the international registration of trademarks)
Presentations
- IP Issues Affecting the Hospitality Industry: Securing and Protecting Valuable Trademarks, and IP Issue-spotting when Acquiring or Selling Hospitality Properties
- IP Licensing and Enforcement Issues: Protecting and Expanding Your Brand Worldwide
- Trademark and Copyright Basics Seminar
- Trademarks and Portfolio Management
- U.S. and Foreign Trademark Prosecution Issues
- IP Due Diligence: The Purchase and Sale of Trademarks and Copyrights