Bruce B. Siegal brings more than 30 years of sports industry and intellectual property experience to Greenspoon Marder. As of counsel to the firm’s Entertainment & Sports practice group, Mr. Siegal focuses on sports brand protection and enforcement, licensing, contract negotiation, marketing, and business operations, helping brand owners maximize intellectual property value through licensing, sponsorship, and endorsement agreements, and assisting licensees on navigating the licensing marketplace.

With a strong sports business background, Mr. Siegal developed programs to protect the trademark rights of numerous sports clients, including organizing systems to protect the NCAA Final Four and College Football Playoff marks by clearing the marketplace of counterfeit and unlicensed merchandise in coordination with the event organizers, investigators and law enforcement officials.

Prior to joining Greenspoon Marder, Mr. Siegal served as counsel at a midsized business law firm in Atlanta, concentrating on brand protection, licensing, and intellectual property matters, primarily in the sports and entertainment industry. Mr. Siegal also served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) and its related sports licensing entities. In his role, Mr. Siegal oversaw all litigation matters, including trademark enforcement actions and anti-counterfeiting efforts. He also established CLC as a founding member of CAPS, a trademark protection and enforcement alliance among CLC and the professional sports leagues such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. While establishing and managing the CLC legal department, Mr. Siegal implemented company-wide policies and risk management procedures as well as advised on issues related to contests, social media initiatives, and promotions. Additionally, he drafted and negotiated contracts, including agency, license, and sponsorship agreements with clients, licensees, and sponsors in the collegiate business and related sports and entertainment clients.

Furthermore, Mr. Siegal played an essential role in developing and guiding the implementation of CLC’s labor code of conduct and monitoring program, and worked with collegiate institutions and licensees to implement Corporate Social Responsibility programs designed to ensure that licensed product bearing collegiate trademarks are produced under safe and fair working conditions.

Throughout Mr. Siegal’s career, he has shaped the sports and entertainment law community. Currently, he serves as Co-Chair for the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Committee of the United States Intellectual Property Alliance, former Chair for the Legal Advisory Committee of the International Collegiate Licensing Association, and past Vice-Chair for the Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Mr. Siegal is also a frequent speaker and has authored a number of publications on trademark and licensing protection, as well as anti-counterfeiting best practices, especially surrounding sports branding and special events. Mr. Siegal serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he teaches NIL rights and more. He is a highly sought-after speaker on NIL issues having presented at several conferences and events and has frequently spoken to the press on these issues.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• J.D., University of Alabama School of Law, 1986
• B.A., University of Alabama, BA, 1982

• Sports IP: College Athletes and Name, Image and Likeness
• Patchwork of Rules Governing NIL Use
• College Athlete NIL: Guarding the Brand, An IP Perspective