Skip to Content

Rami Yanni is an attorney with more than 25 years of experience advising multinational companies, emerging growth companies and individuals.  His expertise comprises intellectual property transactions, licensing, portfolio strategy and management, enforcement and anti-piracy matters.  He also has experience advising clients on consumer products licensing, entertainment transactions, content acquisition, licensing and distribution, FTC/consumer protection matters, multi-platform celebrity endorsement agreements, COPPA/CARU compliance and leading due diligence for mergers and acquisitions.  Over the course of his career Rami has negotiated hundreds of license, distribution, purchase and sale agreements for clients from a wide range of industries, including motion picture, television, music, e-commerce, apparel, footwear, cosmetics, consumer electronics, food and beverage, software, video game, publishing, toys, theme park and sporting goods, and has represented major motion picture studios and television networks in copyright and trademark matters.

Rami Yanni was previously Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Saban Brands LLC, where he was responsible for transactional, intellectual property, enforcement, litigation, licensing, distribution, music, regulatory and compliance matters.  Prior to that, Rami was Chair of the Trademark Practice Group at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger and was previously a partner at McDermott Will & Emery.

Rami has published numerous articles on U.S. intellectual property law in legal, trade and consumer publications.  He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at USC Gould School of Law and is often tapped to speak on intellectual property issues to various universities and professional organizations.  Rami is a member of the International Trademark Association and sits on the Executive Committee of the Entertainment Law and Intellectual Property Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.  He also sits on the Board of Project Mexico & St. Innocent Orphanage, on the Advertising Complaint Review Panel of the Brewers Association, and on the Board of Guitars in the Classroom.

Significant Engagements & Transactions

  • Spearheading global trademark, copyright and domain name clearance, filing and anti-piracy strategies
  • Collaborating with website operators and customs authorities worldwide resulting in tens of thousands of online take-downs and seizure of hundreds of thousands of counterfeit products
  • Leading M&A due diligence for acquisition and sale of lifestyle/apparel brands, film and TV program libraries, video game and mobile game properties, and music publishing catalogs
  • Managing licensee audits
  • Structuring and negotiating program and motion picture license agreements for TV networks
  • Structuring and negotiating content acquisition and distribution (TV, cable/satellite, home video, OTT, SVOD) agreements
  • Overseeing story, script and character clearance for TV productions
  • Structuring and negotiating music composer, publishing, sync and master license agreements
  • Structuring and negotiating promotion, co-branding and strategic alliance agreements with key retailers and consumer goods companies, including Macy’s, McDonald’s, Mattel and Toys R Us
  • Structuring and negotiating multi-platform endorsement and sponsorship agreements with celebrities, star athletes and recording artists
  • Structuring sweepstakes and contest promotions in compliance with state rules and regulations
  • Advising on e-commerce, user-generated content, online advertising and social media activities, including FTC/consumer protection issues, COPPA/CARU compliance, infringement of copyrights, rights of publicity and privacy, cybersquatting and domain acquisition strategies
  • Structuring and negotiating mobile game developer and publishing agreements

Speaking Engagements

  • Beverly Hills Bar Association: Fair Use: Narrative & Documentary Filmmaking, Speaker, Spring 2023
  • Beverly Hills Bar Association: Fair Use: What You Can Steal From Others, and What Others Can Steal From You, Speaker, Winter 2023
  • Romance Writers of America: The Romance of IP and AI, Summer 2023
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association: Entertainment Law and IP Section: Entertainment Year in Review, 2018-2022
  • Licensing Executives Society:  Trademark Licensing:  U.S. and Canadian Perspectives, Fall 2017
  • World Trademark Review: Brand Monetization: The Legal and Licensing Perspective, Fall 2016
  • Digital Hollywood: The Entertainment Industry: The Story of Everything – From Franchise Movies and TV to Virtual Reality and Smartphones, Spring 2016
  • World Trademark Review: Managing the Trademark Asset Lifecycle, Fall 2015
  • McDermott Intellectual Property Symposium, Fall 2014, Fall 2015
  • UCLA School of Law Entertainment Law Symposium, Spring 2014
  • Whittier Law School Entertainment and Sports Law Symposium, Spring 2011
  • ACCA SoCal Annual Conference: Protecting IP in the Age of Social Media, Spring 2011
  • NAPABA National Convention: IP Issues in New Digital Media, Fall 2007
  • HNBA IP Law Conference, Spring 2006
  • IP Management Roundtable: IP Licensing – Strategic Considerations, Winter 2005
  • CLE Seminars: Trademark Protection and Branding – A U.S. Perspective, 2004-2005
  • ACCA Annual Conference: Counterfeits, Piracy and Other IP Challenges, Fall 2004

Publications

  • “Trademark Licensing:  A Best Practice Guide”, World Trademark Review, August/September 2017
  • “Genericization of a Giant: Has the World’s Most Valuable Brand Become Generic?”, Corporate Counsel, April 2017
  • “Will EU Treatment of Google’s AdWords be a Harbinger for the U.S.?”, M/E Insights, Spring 2010
  • “Safe Haven For Sellers of Trademarked Keywords?”, Law360, February 2010
  • “Kind Words for Google’s AdWords in the EU”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, November 2009
  • “Reading Up on Google Book Search”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, October 2009
  • “Record Breakers”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, August 2009
  • “Stopping the Press”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, July 2009
  • “What’s In A Name?”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, June 2009
  • “Battle of the Bands’ (Names)”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, June 2009
  • “Will Google Have the Last Word?”, San Francisco Daily Journal, May 2009
  • “A Case That’s Hard to Swallow”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, April 2009
  • “The Evolving Law on Application of U.S. Trademark Laws Beyond U.S. Borders”, Global IP Asset Management Report, July 2006

Media Interviews

  • “Special Report: Largest Employers – Slower Flow,” Los Angeles Business Journal, August 2022
  • “Ninth Circuit Says Google May Be Ubiquitous, but It’s Not Generic”, The Recorder, May 2017
  • “Google AdWords Suit Gets Whittled Down”, Law360, March 2010
  • “Google Comes Under Fire For Forays Into Books, Social Networking”, Los Angeles Daily Journal, February 2010
  • “Juice Maker Squeezed: Pom On Other End Of Lawsuit Over Product’s Health Benefits,” Los Angeles Business Journal, October 2009
  • “Is Vampire Diaries Totally Ripping Off Twilight?”, E! Online, September 2009
  • “Gift of Pirated CD Causes Concerns”, London Free Press, March 2004
  • “To Protect And To Serve – But It’ll Cost You”, California Law Week, December 1999
  • “Image: LAPD”, The Edge with Paula Zahn, November 1999
  • “LAPD Hopes To Cash In On Merchandise, Movies”, Daily News, November 1999

Professional Affiliations

  • Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel
  • Arab American Lawyers Association of Southern California
  • International Trademark Association
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association (Executive Committee, Entertainment Law and Intellectual Property Section)
  • Beverly Hills Bar Association

Lecturer

  • Adjunct Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Whittier Law School
  • Guest Lecturer, Chapman University, Fowler School of Law
  • Guest Lecturer, UCLA Anderson School of Management
  • Guest Lecturer, Pepperdine University School of Law
  • Guest Lecturer, Santa Monica College
  • Guest Lecturer, Long Beach City College

Insights