Melanie J. Howard

Melanie Howard’s practice focuses on the acquisition, protection, licensing, exploitation and sale of intangible assets for major brands and individual talent. Clients laud her as “super responsive” and trust her ”sharp business acumen” and strategic guidance. Melanie’s unmatched experience in the fashion, luxury and retail sectors has been recognized by industry leaders, including the Los Angeles Times, which named her a “Beauty & Fashion Visionary” in 2024. Melanie leads the firm’s Luxury Brands group, which in its inaugural year earned Loeb recognition from the Luxury Law Alliance as the Best New Luxury Law Firm.

Melanie’s practice extends across entertainment, talent, media and esports. Athletes, creators and brands consistently rely on Melanie for her expert guidance on intellectual property matters, particularly in the context of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other high-stakes commercial transactions. She provides invaluable counsel on licensing, influencer engagements, collaborations, sponsorship and endorsement deals. 

Melanie also leads clients through the complexities of global brand protection and anti-counterfeiting strategies, proactively safeguarding and enforcing their rights in the dynamic digital landscape. Melanie has extensive experience in copyright and trademark infringement disputes, false advertising cases, right of publicity cases and entertainment contractual disputes. She serves as Chair of the Brand Protection group and curates Loeb’s “Branded” publication.

A member of the Privacy, Security & Data Innovations team, Melanie also advises clients on a myriad of data privacy and security issues, including data protection strategy, privacy by design, cross-border transfers of personal data, legal compliance and the development of internal data security and privacy practices and policies, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. She navigates legal issues arising through adoption and implementation of generative AI, machine learning applications and agentic AI across industries.

Melanie is passionate about advancing women's rights and combating sexual slavery and human trafficking. She currently serves as an officer and director of Saving Innocence, a nonprofit organization dedicated to these critical issues. Alongside this leadership role, Melanie actively contributes to other pro bono efforts, representing Dress for Success and The Bail Project, among others. Melanie and other Loeb colleagues were previously honored with the Community Service Award for “generous and unstinting work as a pro bono partner to the ACLU of Southern California.”