Jonathan Jennings Image

Jonathan Jennings

Partner, Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP

Jonathan S. Jennings protects brands, copyrighted works and domain names throughout the world. As part of his practice, Jonathan represents plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of disputes involving trademark, copyright, trade secret, right of publicity, breach of contract, unfair competition and false advertising claims. As an Adjunct Professor at The John Marshall Law School, he teaches a course on right of publicity and privacy law, while at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, he taught the course on trademarks and unfair competition law. He also serves as Pro Bono General Counsel for the Chicago Bar Association. A trained mediator, he was selected by the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to be on its list of Lanham Act Neutrals for its trademark mediation program, and by the International Trademark Association for its panel of trademark mediators.

Jonathan also helps companies and individuals with brand development, audits, clearance, and worldwide registration issues; franchise and due diligence issues; licensing and assignment transactions; and with clearing advertising, promotional and marketing claims and contests. He also evaluates and counsels companies on claims in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical fields in light of FDA, FTC and consumer protection laws and regulations.

Recent honors include: 2018 World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000 Gold Bands in Illinois for “enforcement and litigation” and “prosecution and strategy”; 2018 AV-rated Preeminent Lawyer; 2018 Illinois “Super Lawyer” in Intellectual Property Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Entertainment & Sports law; and a 2018 Illinois “Leading Lawyer” in Advertising & Media law, Computer & Technology law, Copyright & Trademark law, Intellectual Property law, and Trade Secrets/Unfair Competition law.

After over 1000 interviews and surveys with industry clients and peers, Managing Intellectual Property Magazine selected Jonathan as a 2017 “IP Star”.
Jonathan also has made his mark on the law by drafting and testifying in favor of the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, organizing a meeting of trade and bar associations and government officials where he worked with them to revise the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s Rules of Practice, preparing testimony on the Trademark Dilution Revision Act, and advancing the goals of brand owners in meetings with U.S. Customs and Treasury Officials.

Jonathan has co-authored a one-volume treatise entitled “Trademarks and Unfair Competition: Critical Issues in the Law” that is published by Law Journal Press of New York, the Illinois chapter of the International Trademark Association’s U.S. State Trademark and Unfair Competition Law, as well as a chapter on “Domain Names and Trademarks On the Internet” for The Intellectual Property Handbook: A Practical Guide for Franchise, Business and IP Counsel. He has taught the course on trademarks and unfair competition law as an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School of Law as well as a class on identity and privacy rights as an Adjunct Professor at The John Marshall Law School. He is an active leader in trade and bar associations. These activities keep him up-to-date on the most pressing issues facing brand owners, franchisors, licensors, publishers and authors.

The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has cited to him as an authority on anti-cybersquatting disputes, and he has been quoted in leading publications on a variety of intellectual property law issues such as The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, the Chicago Tribune, espn.com, Sportsillustrated.com and Law Lore & Practice. He has been honored and recognized for his legal accomplishments and service to bar associations.