Patricia Lawrence Kolaras is President and Founder of The PLK Law Group, P.C., where she specializes in intellectual property law, including trademark, copyright, unfair competition, trade secrets, trademark dilution, and domain name disputes. In addition, she focuses on all aspects of transactional law in the area of entertainment and sports law, small business and corporate law, as well as contract law, including drafting, negotiating, and enforcing contracts.
Under Kolaras’ direction, The PLK Law Group is recognized for transacting business-related deals, including partnership, operating, and joint venture agreements, artist recording contracts, production deals, TV, movie, and radio station deals, QVC and other shopping network deals, publishing agreements, and merchandising and marketing agreements for professional athletes. Additionally, Kolaras has successfully represented copyright and trademark matters in both federal and state courts, including favorable settlement outcomes against the New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden for use of the registered trademark ALLBALL, and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s use of the registered word mark BE THE BRAND. More recently, Kolaras served as lead counsel in a landmark federal case involving trademark infringement of “Own Your Power,” a brand that The PLK Law Group helped secure intellectual property protection for.
While pursuing her Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law, Kolaras interned in the legal department at RCA Records, a unit of BMG Entertainment in New York. She soon thereafter joined BMG Entertainment Corporate, Business & Legal Affairs in the Copyright Department. During her 10 years working at a major record company, she honed her transactional skills in both contracts and intellectual property matters related to the exploitation of recording and other creative performances. Currently, Kolaras is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, where she teaches “Entertainment Law” and “Law in the Music Industry.”
In 2005, Kolaras left the corporate entertainment industry to start her own full-service law practice, The PLK Law Group. The firm focuses on protecting, educating, and ultimately growing its clients’ businesses. Over the years, The PLK Law Group has become recognized as a unique law firm that offers a balance between traditional legal services and a wide variety of creative services, such as brand packaging and development.
Kolaras is the recipient of several awards and is known as a popular legal expert. She has published an article for Commerce Magazine addressing the impact of digital downloading in the music industry, served on numerous legal panels, and authored various articles on the importance of strengthening brand value to bring added value to clients’ businesses. Kolaras has also delivered keynotes for executive women-based organizations such as the Women’s Executive Network (WEXNET) and the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO), and is a member of New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT). Additionally, she has appeared on several television and radio programs, including MSNBC’s “Your Business,” BET’s “Top 5ive,” NBC’s “The Today Show,” Miami’s “Own Your Power” radio show, and the nationally syndicated radio program “The Wendy Williams Experience,” all of which featured her work in protecting the future of her clients’ businesses.
Bar & Court Admissions
State of New Jersey
New Jersey State Supreme Court
United States District Court of New Jersey
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of New York
United States Supreme Court
Education
Seton Hall University School of Law, J.D.
Spelman College, B.A. (cum laude)
Publications
Trademark Registration for Voice Sounds: Inadequate Protection for Singers’ Distinct Voices in Sound Recordings
