Attorney Bio

Aric S. Jacover

Aric is an experienced intellectual property attorney who concentrates his practice in the areas of trademark, copyright, internet and media law. He was a member of the intellectual property group at Mayer Brown LLP for eight years, where he worked on numerous high-profile cases and transactional matters. In October 2010, Aric launched Jacover Law LLC with the goal of providing high-quality intellectual property counseling to startups and established businesses alike.

Aric has represented a wide range of clients both large and small. While at Mayer Brown, Aric was a member of the litigation team representing Google and YouTube in a major copyright case (Viacom v. YouTube, S.D.N.Y.) that has been described by Legal 500 as “arguably the most high profile and momentous case in the copyright market.” At Jacover Law, Aric has represented individuals and companies throughout all phases of the business lifecycle and in a variety of industries, including website development, social networking, video games, food and beverage products, retail services, publishing, music and digital media. Aric's clients include some of Chicago’s most prestigious cultural institutions, such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Chicago Symphony, and The Poetry Foundation. He also represents Campbell Soup Company, one of the world’s largest producers of packaged food products, in connection with trademark, copyright and social media issues.

Aric is an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School’s Business Enterprise Law Clinic and is actively involved with Lawyers for the Creative Arts, where he serves on the Associate’s Board.

Education

Aric received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, and was a published member of the Georgetown Law Journal. While in law school, Aric served as a legal clerk for the House Judiciary Committee – Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, where he worked with members of Congress on legislative matters relating to copyright law and policy. As a participant in the Law Students in Court Clinic, Aric obtained a favorable verdict (after a three-day jury trial) in a case involving violations of the housing code.

Aric received his undergraduate degree in Music Composition, with honors, from the University of Michigan, where he studied with world renowned composers William Bolcom and Bright Sheng.

Seminars and Presentations

“Careers in Art Law,” Panel discussion with DePaul’s Art and Cultural Heritage Law Society (April 2014)
“Copyright Issues in Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and More,” Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago (May 2013)
“What Every Mobile App Developer Needs to Know About Intellectual Property,” Mobile Monday Chicago (May 2012)
“What Every Business Manager Needs to Know About Trademarks and Copyrights,” Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing/NORBIC (March 2011)
“Google Book Settlement and Other Copyright Issues Facing Librarians,” Association of Jewish Libraries (July 2009)
“Copyright Law and Policy,” University of Michigan Library (March 2009)
“Nuts and Bolts of Copyright Enforcement,” Practicing Law Institute (June 2008)
“The Future of Copyrights in the Supreme Court,” Judge Linn Inn of Court (March 2007)

Publications

“Copyright Enforcement,” Practicing Law Institute, 938 PLI/Pat 133 (June-July 2008)
“I Want My MP3! Creating a Legal and Practical Scheme to Combat Copyright Infringement on Peer-to-Peer Internet Applications,” Georgetown Law Journal, Volume 90, Issue 6 (2002) (cited by over 30 publications)

Bar and Court Admissions

Illinois (2002)
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Professional Associations

Adjunct Professor, John Marshall Law School, Business Enterprise Law Clinic (2013-present)
Associate’s Board Member, Lawyers for the Creative Arts (2014)
Vice-Chair (Midwest Chapter), Copyright Society of the USA (2007-2009)
Member, Copyright Society of the USA (2006-present)
Member, Chicago Bar Association (committees on Intellectual Property Law and Media & Entertainment)
Member, Illinois State Bar Association

Practice Areas

Trademark

Protection, clearance, registration and portfolio management
Disputes before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (oppositions, cancellations and concurrent use proceedings) and litigation in federal courts
Pre-litigation disputes (e.g., sending and responding to cease and desist letters)
Drafting and negotiating concurrent use and related settlement agreements
Protection of non-traditional trademarks, such as trade dress, sound and color marks
International trademark protection and enforcement

Copyright

Protection, registration and portfolio management
Enforcement and litigation
Counseling on potential copyright claims and defenses, such as, copyrightability, fair use, ownership, chain-of-title and third-party liability
Content licensing and transfers
Music issues (special licensing and compliance issues relating to music copyrights)
DMCA demands (online enforcement claims)
DMCA anti-circumvention issues

Internet and Social Media

Counseling on the use of social media platforms for marketing and advertising (e.g., use of hashtags, embedding content on news feeds, and publicity rights issues)
Online privacy issues and compliance with federal and state regulations
Use of search engine optimization (SEO), Google Ad-Words, and other keyword-based marketing techniques
Online enforcement and protection of IP assets, including the use of DMCA take-down requests and non-statutory enforcement strategies
Drafting and reviewing website terms of use, privacy policies and EULAs

Software and Licensing

Contracts involving software and web design (master services agreements; software licenses; software as a service (SaaS) agreements; statements of work; independent contractor agreements)
Open source software and licensing issues
Creative commons and other non-traditional licenses
Agreements for rights of publicity and endorsements
Licensing of entertainment assets (music, video, photography, graphic art, etc.)
Publishing agreements for literary works (book publishing contracts; first serial rights agreements; reprint licenses)
Drafting rules for sweepstakes and contests.

Domain Names

Developing strategies for the registration and enforcement of domain name assets
Registration of new top-level-domains (TLDs) and country domains (ccTLDs)
Domain name disputes under the Anti-Cybersquatting Act (ACPA) and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)

Trade Secrets

Counseling on the protection and maintenance of trade secret information
Drafting confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs)
Website security and privacy issues

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