Posts by admin@fashionlawinstitute.com

2^nd annual Fashion Law Institute symposium
Friday, April 20, 2012

Can you balance the fashion equation?  Join the Fashion Law Institute for our 2^nd annual symposium, FASHION = ART + COMMERCE, an all-day event on Friday, April 20, at Fordham Law School.

REGISTER NOW!

9:15am   WELCOME!

9:30-10:45am  IPO, Yes or No?

Recent high-profile IPOs in the fashion industry raise questions of if, when, why, how and where a fashion company should list itself on a public exchange.  IPOs can raise money for a fashion house to expand, allow founders and early investors to cash out, and give a label greater clout – but IPOs also open the company’s financial statements to the public and subject management to the volatility of markets and the wishes of shareholders.  How does a creatively driven business determine whether it’s a go for an IPO?

11:00am-12:30pm  Beyond Whac-a-Mole:  New Initiatives in Intellectual Property Enforcement

Brand protection experts frequently describe the challenges of their work in terms of the arcade game Whac-a-Mole – counterfeiters pop up, intellectual property owners smack them down, counterfeiters pop up again.  But fashionable trademark holders and their advocates have a few new ideas to share, including new case studies and data from the world of ecommerce and interactive marketing.

12:45-2:00pm  LUNCH

2:15-3:30pm  BRIColage:  Emerging Patterns in Fashion and International Trade

The BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India, and China – are the fastest-growing and largest emerging markets in the world. Each country already plays a significant role in the fashion industry, whether in design, manufacturing, consumption, or all three. They are also, however, facing intellectual property challenges,  increasing labor costs, and opposition to trade agreements amongst their citizens. How will the BRIC countries change the face of the global fashion industry?

3:45-5:00pm  ADmonishments:  Where Fashion Law and Advertising Meet

In advertising, fashion’s creative directors often pursue the avant-garde, while fashion lawyers must remain on guard.  From British bans on controversial ads to Israeli and proposed French regulation of modified images to the invention of digital modification detection software, fashion advertising is coming under greater scrutiny.  In the U.S., the proposed Media and Public Health Act (formerly the Self Esteem Act) continues this trend, raising questions about who should control artistic images created in the service of commerce.

5:00-6:00pm  RECEPTION & CONVERSATION with Designer Yeohlee Teng

Participants include Ari Afilalo, Rutgers; Vincent Bevins, Financial Times; Heike Bhonsle, Lacoste USA; Margaret Chin, New York City Council; Caroline Gentile, Fordham; Jeffrey Kapelman, Hilldun; Roberta Karp; Eric Kee, Dartmouth; John C. Kennedy, Paul Weiss; Marina Kovalyov, Russian American Foundation; Candice Li, INTA; Seth Matlins, Off Our Chests; Kristina Montanaro, IACC; Owen D. Nee, Jr., Greenberg Traurig; Kenneth Plevan, Skadden; Barbara Pozzo, Università degli Studi di Milano; Susan Scafidi, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham; Jay Silverberg, Sills Cummis & Gross; Adam Katz Sinding, Le 21ème Arrondissement; Te Smith, MarkMonitor; Anna Stupnytska, Goldman Sachs; Yeohlee Teng; Annie Ugurlayan, National Advertising Division; Sara Ziff, Model Alliance.