Essential Legal Advice: IP Protection, Contracts and more

FashionTalks

Branding/ fashion lawyer and trademark agent Ashlee Froese breaks down so many myths around the relationship and importance between entrepreneurship (and not just fashion designers), legals, trademarks, IP and more.

In this episode you will hear Ashlee Froese and Donna Bishop discuss:

• What it means to be a fashion lawyer and the eco system of the industry
• When it is beneficial to engage a lawyer (likely sooner than you think)
• Why freelancers benefit from working with a lawyer (its not just for big businesses)
• The critical business tools that fall under legal protection
• The big misstep shoe empire Manolo Blahnik made and how you can avoid it
• Demystifying IP: copy write, trade secrets, trademarks and more
• What to know about contracts from employees to suppliers to independent contractors
• How to choose a lawyer to work with
• Success stories
• How to avoid brand trolls

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• https://www.froeselaw.com/post/crocs-case-confirms-industrial-design-as-tool-in-fashion-law
• https://www.froeselaw.com/post/structuring-your-independent-contractor-agreements

To connect with Ashlee Froese - https://www.froeselaw.com/contact

Host Donna Bishop - https://thisisdonnab.ca/

IG - https://www.instagram.com/thisisdonnab/

Follow the podcast

IG - https://www.instagram.com/fashiontalkspod/

To learn more about CAFA - the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards https://www.cafawards.ca/

IG - https://www.instagram.com/cafawards/

This episode was produced by Jason Perrier

IG - https://www.instagram.com/ajasonperrier/

Thank you to Nick Craine for the amazing artwork - https://www.nickcraine.com/

More about Ashlee:

Ashlee Froese is a branding & fashion lawyer and trademark agent. She has been practicing law since 2007. She is recognized by the Law Society of Ontario as a Certified Specialist in Trademarks Law; 1 of 6 female lawyers to carry that designation. Since 2017, Ashlee is consistently listed in the World Trademark Review as one of the top 1000 trademark lawyers in the world. In 2019, Ashlee was one of 39 lawyers across Canada to be granted the Lexpert Zenith Award, which recognizes her as a change maker in law. In 2021, Ashlee was granted the World Intellectual Property Review’s Diversity award as an Influential Woman in IP, one of only 69 lawyers worldwide. In 2022, Ashlee was an awardee with the Canadian Law Awards in the Female Trailblazer of the Year category. Prior to launching Froese Law, Ashlee was a partner on Bay Street. She fast tracked to partnership within 6 years.

Ashlee's scope of practice includes trademarks, copyright, contract, licensing, domain name, social media, marketing/advertising, packaging/labeling and start up corporate laws.

Ashlee holds numerous leadership and mentorship positions including, executive committee member (Ontario Bar Association), brand strategy council member (Canadian Marketing Association), advisor (Ryerson Fashion Zone), committee member (Intellectual Property Institute of Canada), committee member (International Trademarks Association), past co-chair (Fashion Group International), and past-chair (Toronto Intellectual Property Group), chair (City of Toronto's Fashion Industry Advisory Panel).