About Renée L. Duff, Esq.
Having spent almost two decades managing intellectual property (IP) assets from business, law firm and in-house counsel perspectives, as well as creating a great deal of her own over the years, Renée’s experiences give her a unique combination of insight that makes her a respected resource on issues related to both the commercial and legal sides of intellectual property. She has spoken widely on the benefits of and strategies for intellectual property within small businesses. Her large client base of entrepreneurs and companies requiring broad experience and expertise in the many facets of intellectual property law, publishing and portfolio management, speaks loudly of her success and renown. She has a creative, entrepreneurial spirit, and brings a practical, open and friendly attitude to the practice of law that is valued by her clients.
As a young girl, Renée’s family took a trip to California to visit relatives. One afternoon they went to see her Uncle, who was an attorney, at his office. Although she does not recall whether it was the impressive walls of books, the distinguished looking offices or just an atmosphere of significance that she perceived, it was on that day she declared to her parents that she wanted to be a lawyer.
Standing in her Uncle’s office so long ago she had no idea what practicing law was all about or that there were so many areas of specialty to choose from. But her mind was made up, and she started on the path to making that goal a reality.
Meanwhile, long before she ever knew what the term “intellectual property” meant, she was busying herself creating it. Encouraged by her creative mother, her interest in all things artistic and imaginative led to classes and workshops in writing, music, dance, and various visual art forms. She also participated in team and individual sports. Today her mom will admit that, in large part, her incentive to expose her very curious and energetic daughter to explore so many things was to wear her out by the end of the day so that she would actually go to sleep at night! Renée’s passion for sports, writing and photography were firmly established, however, and started her down the path that ultimately lead to her choice of intellectual property law as her legal specialty.
After becoming Co-Editor-in-Chief of her high school newspaper and captain of the varsity soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams, the Sports Editor of her college newspaper, and having taken all the obligatory pre-law courses, she had not forgotten her goal stated many years earlier and was dutifully applying for law school admission. It was at this time, however, that she was serendipitously presented with the opportunity to combine her love of photography and the game of basketball in a position working at the National Basketball Association in their newly formed photography department.
Four years with NBA Photos gave her an inside look into the business of sports and, more significantly, gave her an invaluable education in the areas of copyrights, trademarks, branding and licensing. Following her time at the NBA, she joined a trading card company and became even more involved in the business side of intellectual property rights, this time looking at things from the point of view of a licensee, instead of a licensor, as she managed the editorial and photography departments. So instead of going straight to law school after undergrad as was the plan, she became part of a world that taught her what intellectual property was all about, the enormous power it could wield and the lucrative force it could be. And it was this unlikely detour that ultimately influenced her decision that intellectual property would be her choice of law.
Upon learning that the trading card company was filing for bankruptcy, she saw her opening and finally attended law school – with her chosen specialty pre-determined in her mind. Following a weak job market after graduation and enduring an educational and much appreciated, but less than fulfilling, stint as an associate with an insurance firm, she finally got her long hoped for opportunity with an IP firm and was overjoyed. The firm represented mega household name clients and prosecuting trademarks both in the US and abroad, as well as navigating the all new issues facing these clients regarding domain names, was how she spent most of her time. She then had the fortuitous opportunity to become in-house IP counsel for World Wrestling Federation Entertainment (WWFE) as they were launching the XFL football league and the battle with the World Wildlife Fund was heating up that ultimately resulted in the organization “getting the “F” out” and changing the entire brand to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In a subsequent law partnership she worked primarily with start up companies, encountering a whole different group of creative people and learning a whole other side of the value and importance of intellectual property for these entrepreneurial types of ventures, particularly as they were searching for funding.
Currently, Renée’s private practice caters to small businesses, entrepreneurs and other creative individuals that have intellectual property assets as the main focus of their business. She is also extremely pleased to be Of Counsel Senior Attorney with the IP firm Lackenbach Siegel, LLP, which boasts a quite impressive client list and is perennially ranked as one of the top trademark firms in the country. For Lackenbach Siegel she manages numerous trademark, copyright and domain name portfolios and primarily focuses on US trademark prosecution, title and security interest issues, US Customs matters and domain name registration conflicts and strategies. For both her own and Lackenbach Siegel’s clients, she also advises in connection with publishing contracts, as well as securing publishers or other commercially viable outlets for client’s intellectual property rights.
In addition to the practice of law, Renée has created and taught online courses for paralegal education in intellectual property and for over ten years was an instructor for students preparing for the New York State Bar Examination. She has written a book, From Stress to Success, that concentrates on helping students with the time and stress management aspects of studying for the Bar Exam and beyond.
