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 seek her out for her practical guidance and business-minded approach. Melanie’s unmatched experience in the fashion, luxury and retail sectors has been recognized by industry leaders, including through participating as a Partner of the Luxury Law Alliance, which in 2021 named Loeb as the Best New Luxury Law Firm. Her practice also spans entertainment and media, esports and Web3, including advising clients and managing deals involving cryptocurrency, blockchain, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), minting, licensing and royalty structures, advertising issues and brand protection, exploitation and enforcement in the metaverse.

Clients regularly turn to Melanie for strategic brand protection guidance and counsel on intellectual property support in the context of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other complex commercial transactions as well as licensing, influencer, sponsorship and endorsement deals. Melanie also 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 particular focus on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), taking effect in January 2023. She regularly handles IP and technology transactions relating to software and mobile application development, software licensing, e-commerce solutions, technology vendor agreements and other data intensive transactions.

Melanie currently serves as Secretary and Board member of Saving Innocence, a nonprofit organization focused on combating sexual slavery and trafficking. She also maintains an active pro bono practice, including managing matters for The Bail Project, Dress for Success and the ACLU of Southern California, who awarded her a Community Service Award in 2021.