Steven Baron

Practice Areas

For more than 35 years, Steve Baron has counseled businesses on intellectual property and media matters and helped clients resolve complex commercial disputes.

His experience includes protecting and advising on trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, trade secrets, defamation, privacy, right of publicity, advertising, and marketing. Steve represents media and entertainment clients’ best interests in federal and state courts, administrative tribunals, arbitrations, and mediations. His clients also include publishers, authors, podcasters, advertising and marketing agencies, graphic artists, recording companies and recording artists, information technology businesses, Internet retailers, and other businesses with intellectual property and publishing issues.

Steve advises clients on evaluating and protecting their intellectual property and business assets. He helps businesses select trademarks, obtain registrations from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and manage trademark portfolios. He also counsels clients on copyright protection and aids them in registering works with the Copyright Office. Publishers benefit from his guidance on matters involving rights of publicity and privacy. At the same time, he leverages his extensive experience as a litigator to draft, review, and negotiate many commercial agreements, including intellectual property licenses and assignments, software escrow agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, work-made-for-hire agreements, employment agreements, merchant agreements, and website terms of use and privacy policies.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association

-Member – Litigation and Intellectual Property Law Sections and Forum on Communications Law

Copyright Society of the USA

Authors Guild

Media Law Resource Center

Illinois State Bar Association (Chair of Intellectual Property Section 2023-2024)

Lawyers for the Creative Arts – Volunteer and Board Member

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence – Board Member

Chicago Volunteer Legal Service Foundation — Volunteer and past Chair of Operation of local pro bono clinic

Publications

Publications

-The FTC’s Takes on Fake Consumer Review and Auto-Renewal of Subscriptions, Illinois State Bar Association Intellectual Property Section Newsletter (September 2023) (co-author)

-Intellectual Property Law & Interactive Media – Free for a Fee, Peter Lang Publishing (co-author)

-Recent Developments In Media, Privacy, Defamation, and Advertising Law, American Bar Association Torts, Trial & Insurance Practice (2016-2019)

-Illinois Chapter of MLRC’s 50-State Survey: Media Privacy and Related Law (2009-2019)

Speaking Engagements

-The Nuts and Bolts of Publishing Law for Authors,” Let’s Just Write Conference, Chicago Writers Association (March 2023)

-The Magic of Advertising Law, ABA Forum on Communications (February 2021)

-Closing the Deal: Freelancer Contract Negotiation Panel, Chicago News Guild (May 2019)

-What Every Founder/Entrepreneur Must Know, Financial Poise Webinar (April 2019)

-Who said it? – Protections and Procedures for Litigating Anonymous Speech, Chicago Bar Association (February 2019)

-An Introduction to Intellectual Property & Valuation Approaches, Chicago Bar Association (January 2019)

-Employers v. The First Amendment, Chicago Bar Association (March 2018)

-Legal Issues for Editors, Authors and Freelancers, Chicago Women In Publishing and University of Chicago (January 2018)

-Legal Issues for Authors: Pen to Press Issues for DIY Writers – Chicago Self-Publishing Group (April 2017)

-Fact and Fiction: Defamation and Rights of Privacy/Publicity, Story Studio Chicago (April 2016)

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Illinois admitted in 1989

Minnesota admitted in 1988 (inactive)

U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois and the Eastern District of Wisconsin

United States Courts of Appeal for the Third, Fifth and Seventh Circuits

United States Supreme Court

Education

Awards