Jeffrey G. Knowles - Coblentz Law

Details

P 415.772.5795

F 415.989.1663

jknowles@coblentzlaw.com

Education

J.D., summa cum laude,

University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (1987)
B.A.

University of California, Los Angeles (1984)

Practices

Intellectual Property

Litigation

Industries

Entertainment

Technology

Jeff Knowles is a trial lawyer practicing complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on intellectual property matters. He has specific expertise in copyright, trademark, trade secret, Lanham Act, and other unfair competition cases, with deep experience in music-related litigation. He has represented clients in a broad array of industries, from music and Internet technology to consumer products and real estate.

Jeff has deep experience in the music industry. He was co-lead counsel to the music publisher plaintiffs in the groundbreaking Napster case, in which the plaintiffs secured and successfully defended on appeal an injunction prohibiting the defendant from facilitating the unauthorized internet distribution of their copyrighted works. See A&M Records, Inc., et al. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001). He has also represented the major record labels in anti-piracy and other litigation, including in Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. v. Radionomy (N.D. Cal. 2016), an action against one of the world’s largest webcasters for failure to obtain statutory licenses. Jeff has represented numerous recording artists and performing rights organizations, including BMI. He currently represents SoundExchange, the collective rights management organization that collects and distributes royalties for non-interactive digital audio transmissions.

Jeff served as a law clerk to the Honorable Eugene F. Lynch of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (1987-1988), and prior to joining the firm, worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. where he represented federal agencies in national impact litigation.

He served as the firm’s co-managing partner from 2008 – 2018.

Jeff is a member of the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property and Litigation sections, as well as the Private Advertising Committee of the Antitrust Section. He is a member of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., as well as a member the California Bar Association and the Bar Association of San Francisco. He also sits on the Board of Directors of Peak Systems, a Seattle-based web design company.

Jeff has served as a moot court judge for Stanford University Law School and has spoken on internet and copyright issues at University of California College of Law, San Francisco, Stanford University Law School, King Hall (UC Davis School of Law) and American University Law School in Washington, D.C. He has also been a guest speaker at conferences of the Intellectual Property Division of the Washington and Oregon Bar Associations.

Jeff earned a degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his law degree summa cum laude from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (Hastings). While at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, he was an Articles Editor for the Hastings Law Journal and was elected to the Order of the Coif and the Thurston Society.

Jeff is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the Commercial Litigation category and as a Northern California Super Lawyer.

Speaker, “Recent Developments in Music Copyright Law,” Marin County Bar Association (May 2021)

Speaker, “Intellectual Property Law Bootcamp,” Bay Area MCLE Conference (November 2020)

Co-Author, “The Music Modernization Act of 2018 and its Burgeoning Impact,” American Intellectual Property Law Association 2019 Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (October 2019)

Speaker, “Emerging Issues in Music Copyright,” Practising Law Institute (July 2019)

Author, “The Debate Over Sony-Betamax And Peer-To-Peer File Sharing: Will the Supreme Court Settle It in MGM v. Grokster?,” Computer & Internet Lawyer, Vol. 22, No. 3 (March 2005)

News

News - August 17, 2022

Danna Kozerski Awarded Lawyer of the Year, 35 Coblentz Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers 2023

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Events - November 3, 2020

2020 Bay Area MCLE Conference

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News - August 20, 2020

Fred Alvarez and Danna Kozerski Awarded Lawyers of the Year, 28 Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers 2021

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