Joan L. Long is retired of counsel in the Chicago and Grand Rapids offices of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where she is a member of the Intellectual Property Department and chaired of the Advertising and Marketing Group. Ms. Long’s practice focused on intellectual property protection and enforcement with an emphasis on Lanham Act compliance and enforcement.
Ms. Long provided clients with advice and evaluation in connection with advertising claims, including assessment of the substantiation for the claim and potential liability for false or misleading representations of both express and implied claims. Ms. Long assisted clients in negotiating the terms of consent orders, responding to FTC subpoenas and submitting comments to the proposed FTC consent orders. She successfully defended a client’s challenged environmental claim brought before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau. She routinely advises clients on compliance with Federal Trade Commission guidelines.
Ms. Long also represented clients in federal court litigation involving Lanham Act issues, trade secrets and copyright, including a six-day federal jury trial defense victory in May 2013, which was upheld in a 2015 appeal by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in a per curium judgment.
