RAYMOND J. DOWD, Partner.

Raymond J. Dowd is an alumnus of Fordham Law School, Class of '91. His legal career has taken him to France, Italy, and finally New York City, where he began his own practice in 1994.  He is now a partner in Dowd & Marotta LLC. 

Mr. Dowd earned his B.A. in International Studies from Manhattan College in 1986 and a French Language Certificate from the Sorbonne in Paris, France. While attending Fordham Law School, he completed an internship with the Honorable John E. Sprizzo in the Southern District of New York and served as Articles Editor of the Fordham International Law Journal.  After Fordham Law, Mr. Dowd spent two years with the law firm of Dobson & Sinisi in Milan, Italy where the firm represented a wide range of U.S., Canadian and Italian corporate clients.  His current clients include model agencies, magazines, television networks and broadcasters, film producers, record labels, photographers, artists and designers.

Mr. Dowd has litigated numerous trademark, copyright, music royalty, right of publicity, and defamation cases.  His victories include a trademark and unfair competition trial in the Southern District of New York involving the marks "FASHION TELEVISION" and "FASHION TV."  2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6926 (S.D.N.Y.) (Motley, J.); 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2462 (S.D.N.Y.)(Wood, J.).  Other reported cases include: Estate of Doris Duke, 87 N.Y.2d 465, 640 N.Y.S.2d 446 (1996)(Titone, J.); 220 A.D.2d 241, 632 N.Y.S.2d 532 (1st. Dept. 1995); Getz v. Eichner, 1997 WL 362318 (S.D.N.Y. 1997); Time, Inc. v. Kastner, 972 F. Supp. 236 (S.D.N.Y.1997); Bedin v. Trussardi, 257 A.D.2d 809, 684 N.Y.S.2d 653 (3d Dept. 1999) (Carpinello, J.); Wilhelmina Models, Inc. v. Major S.r.l., N.Y.L.J., April 16, 1999 at 27, col. 4; Sermidi v. Battistotti, 273 A.D.2d 66; 708 N.Y.S.2d 408 (1st Dept. 2000); I’M NY Inc. v. ID Model Management Inc., N.Y.L.J., April 30, 1999 at 25, col. 3; Soho Alliance v. World Farm Inc., 749 N.Y.S.2d 879 (1^st Dept. 2002).

Mr. Dowd served as Co-Chairman of the Entertainment Media Intellectual Property and Sports Law Section of the New York County Lawyers’ Association from 2000-2003.   He serves as Chairman of the Federal Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association (Empire State Chapter).  Mr. Dowd writes book reviews and a column for the New York Law Journal.

An accomplished public speaker, Mr. Dowd teaches Fundamentals of Intellectual Property Management at New York University (School of Professional and Continuing Education) and delivers the copyright and Trademark Fundamentals lecture at the New York County Lawyers’s Association’s Continuing Legal Education Program.   Recent lectures include "Troubles With Trademarks" (New York County Lawyers’ Assn.); "Basics of Trademark Licensing" (MAGIC fashion and apparel show in Las Vegas); "Creating Value for Your Company on the Internet" (Trautman & Wasserman Private Bankers);"Skirting the Issue of Trade Dress: Copyright Law After Wal-Mart v. Samara" (Copyright Society of the U.S.A.), "Models, Fashion Professionals and the Internet: What You Should Know" (Modelwire, Inc.) and "Trademark Law: What You Need To Know in Cyberspace" (New York New Media Association).

E-mail: ray@dowdmarottalaw.com

DANIEL C. MAROTTA, Partner.

Daniel C. Marotta, Esq. is a partner in the law firm of Dowd & Marotta LLC, a commercial litigation, real estate and entertainment firm in New York City serving clients in the real estate, fashion, photography, film, television, modeling, music, communications, and new media industries.

He is an alumnus of Fordham Law School, Evening Division, Class of '92.   Mr. Marotta earned his B.A. in Economics and English from Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York.

Mr. Marotta’s real estate practice includes condominium and coop offerings, franchising and commercial leasing.  He is also a trial attorney with experience in commercial litigation, including real estate and construction litigation, wills and estates, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, royalty disputes, rights of publicity, employment disputes, and civil rights. 

Mr. Marotta teaches Intellectual Property Licensing at the NYU School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies and represents independent labels, distributors, producers and artists in licensing, publishing, recording and distribution agreements.

Mr. Marotta is President of the Network of Bar Leaders, a coalition of leaders of 43 bar associations in New York City and Long Island, representing the Richmond County Bar Association as delegate.  He is a member of the board of Directors of the Richmond County Bar Association, and member of the Richmond County Bar Association Committee For Judicial Independence.  He is also a member of the Federal Bar Council, Federal Bar Association, and Copyright Society of the USA. He is also a former Chair of the Music and Recording Industry Committee of the Entertainment Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

Mr. Marotta devotes a substantial amount of time to not for profit real estate development and is active in his local community.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Downtown Staten Island Council, a not for profit group consisting of business and community leaders promoting the downtown business district of Staten Island as a cultural and historic destination attraction.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, Inc. and served as President of the Board of Directors of Neighborhood Housing Services of Staten Island, Inc. for four consecutive years. Neighborhood Housing Services is a nationwide network of local development corporations which provides financing, grants and home buyer education courses to build stability in communities and revitalize distressed neighborhoods. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Neighborhood Preservation Coalition in Albany, New York, a coalition of over 180 not-for-profit housing groups in New York State

Mr. Marotta has lectured at the New York State Bar Association, Miami Winter Music Conference, the MAGIC fashion and apparel show in Las Vegas and BillBoard Dance Music Summit on copyright and trademark issues.  He has also spoken on topics in real estate law, commercial leasing and mortgage lending for not for profit groups and the German American Chamber of Commerce.  He has made presentations to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Fordham Law School and the New York New Media Association on developing a career in Entertainment Law. He has served as a Technical Editor on The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting a Small Business, Macmillan, 2000, and the Unofficial Guide to Starting a Small Business, Macmillan, 2000. Published articles include: Trademark Parody Since Ginger Rogers, Trademark World, May 2002; What They’ll Never Tell You About the Music Industry, NY Law Journal, Lawyers Bookshelf, February 25, 2003; and "Does Trademark Grant Monopoly over Useful Product Features?" OffPrice Apparel Magazine, Fall 2004.

Email: dan@gabormarottalaw.com