Partner Cliff Risman Comments on IP Woes of New Hotel Brands

Law 360 spoke with Gardere Partner Clifford J. Risman, chair of the Firm's Hospitality Industry Team, about hotel companies generating new brands in an attempt to push themselves into new markets. Mr. Risman noted that the launching of new hotels is creating a crowded market that makes registering and policing new pieces of intellectual property particularly complicated.

"Companies have created new offshoots of themselves, and the market continues to be sliced and diced to more pieces," Mr. Risman said. "But I don't think it leads to more hotel properties … or a bigger piece of the market pie."

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