Mr. deRosa has been engaged in the private practice of intellectual property law in Washington, D.C., for over 37 years, with a primary focus on federal practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).  Mr. deRosa has prosecuted over 3,000 trademarks to registration and over 350 trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the TTAB.

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For the past 11 years, he was a partner with the Washington, D.C., office of DickinsonWright, PLLC, a general practice firm based in Detroit, Michigan.  And before that, he was a partner with the intellectual property boutiques of Stevens Davis Miller and Mosher, LLP and Watson Cole Grindle and Watson, both of which were located within the District of Columbia. While at Stevens Davis, he chaired the firm’s Trademark and Copyright Department and supervised six attorneys.

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Throughout his legal career, Mr. deRosa has instituted approximately 50 federal court actions involving claims for trademark infringement, false advertising, unfair competition, dilution, copyright infringement, trade dress infringement, patent infringement, trade name infringement, and for trade secret and anti-counterfeiting violations. Other actions have involved claims for invasions of both the rights to privacy and publicity, as well as claims that involved the intentional interference with known contractual rights, non-compete agreements, and anti-cybersquatting.

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His appellate experience has included appeals to both the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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He has served as intellectual property advisor in transactional matters involving over 25 corporate acquisitions and mergers on behalf of publicly traded companies. During these engagements, he provided qualitative analyses on the intellectual property owned by the target companies during the due diligence process. He has drafted and opined on a countless number of distribution agreements, licenses, consent agreements, franchise systems, and other business arrangements.

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Between 2004 and 2008, Mr. deRosa served as an editor of the Trademark Reporter, the bench mark publication of the International Trademark Association (INTA), and he has been a member of INTA and its predecessor, the United States Trademark Association, since 1982.

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For seven consecutive years since 2012, Mr. deRosa has been awarded the Super Lawyer rating in Intellectual Property Law for the District of Columbia and has been recognized as a Top Lawyer in Intellectual Property Law by the Washington Post Magazine.

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He is a 1982 graduate of the University of Georgia Law School where he received his Juris Doctorate degree, and a 1978 graduate of the George Washington University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies.

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In addition to the practice of law, Mr. deRosa was an entrepreneur and served as his company’s Chief Executive Officer. He and his wife founded and established a 4-store and on-line retail operation that engaged in the sale and offering of gourmet food products and related services for 7 years. He currently licenses his brand to third parties.  He knows and has experienced first-hand the many challenges faced by most businesses, including issues involving human resources, commercial lending, commercial real estate negotiations, regulatory compliance, product distribution, inventory, and sales, together with issues involving brand and marketing endeavors via social media, on-line and in print.

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Mr. deRosa has served on the Board of Directors for the California Olive Oil Council located in Berkeley, California, on the Advisory Committee for the Downtown Columbia Partnership in Columbia, Maryland, and on the Advisory Council for the Friendship School in Eldersburg, Maryland. For 12 years, he was an active member of Vistage, Inc., an organization devoted to the enhancement of Chief Executive Officers and other business leaders. In 2012, he was the subject of an article in the hardbound edition of Profiles in Success – Inspiration from Executive Leaders in the Washington, D.C., area.

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At present, Mr. deRosa is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar and limits his practice before federal agencies and departments.

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