The Cosplay Lawyer
Philosophy alum protects Walking into a comic convention is like stepping into a whole new world – think Tatooine, Hogwarts, and Westeros all rolled into one. There are booths selling merchandise and speaker panels featuring writers, actors, and other experts from various cinematic and literary universes. And everywhere, there are people in stunning costumes, dressed as their favorite characters from movies, books, anime, and video games. Conventions are where Ira Domnitz, the “Cosplay Lawyer,” is in his element. Like any superhero, Domnitz is a mild-mannered intellectual property lawyer by day. By night – or rather,
Intellectual Property Basics Patent Patents protect ideas and inventions – a new chemical compound, a new technological device, etc. “A patent is essentially a contract with the government that gives a limited monopoly to a person or company to prevent others from making, using, or selling anything that’s claimed in the patent,” said Domnitz.
Trademark “Trademarks are identifiers of a source of goods,” said Domintz. For example, Tylenol is a trademark held by Johnson and Johnson, and acetaminophen is the generic name of the same product.
Copyright “Copyright protects works of art in a tangible medium. In barest essence, paintings, music, drawings, literature, would fall under copyright,” said Domnitz.
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• IN FOCUS • June, 2019
periodic weekends – he’s an expert who regularly speaks about intellectual property law at comic conventions around the country. He’s also a UWM alum. Domnitz grew up in Milwaukee and chose UWM for its pre-med program. At the time, he was interested in becoming a hospital administrator. Rather than major in the sciences – though he completed all of his pre-med coursework – Domnitz thought a major in philosophy might prove more useful to his future career. He graduated in 1995 and went on to complete a year of graduate work in philosophy at the University of Houston. But another profession was calling: He enrolled at Boston University School of Law. He graduated in three years, returned to Houston, and then learned that, because of his science background, he was qualified to sit for the exam that allows attorneys to represent clients before the U.S. Patent Office. “I didn’t intend to go to law school to become an intellectual property lawyer, but once I learned I qualified to take the Patent Bar, I actually became employed at a patent firm and realized that I liked working with patents,” said Domnitz. “I like working with science, and I like working with inventors and ideas and capturing inventions and ideas in the form of a patent.” Over the years, Domnitz has represented inventors, artists, scientists, writers, and even celebrities, all looking to protect their intellectual property. He can’t go into details to protect their privacy, but he’s helped to trademark and patent innovations that have changed and shaped their respective industries. Frequently, he’s called upon to explain his work at conventions around the country. Most recently, he presented at Comicpalooza in Houston, which is hailed as Texas’ largest entertainment and pop culture event. The convention drew over 50,000 attendees. “People have questions,” Domnitz said. “Naturally, they’re big fans of everything, so the question will be, ‘I’ve written a Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel. I’ve written a Game of Thrones spin-off. I have a cosplay design. How do I protect it?” So, he explains in general terms how to go about protecting that property, whether it’s art, music, writing, or even peoples’ actual costumes.
